Theory of Love
by fakeditfromthewordgo
Summary: Max has to make a decision, but time's running out: she has to choose between true love, or something entirely chemical. What, or more importantly, who will she choose? And will she have time at all? Post-FANG. Hiatus, sorry?
1. Prelude

**Disclaimer: James Patterson is the true owner of these characters. Unfortunate, no? (;**

**A/N: =D 'Kay, first Max Ride fic, be nice (: Can't thank HerGoldenWings enough for helping me with the plot and just generally helping out and being awesome (: Check her fics out, they're like out of this world. **

Theory of Love – Prelude

"I don't want to hurt you," The doctor's voice was soothing, if a little exasperated. The dark-haired boy laughed, throwing his tied hands in the man's face.

"Remind me why my hands are tied." The doctor's eyes widened: this was the first full sentence he'd heard from the boy since he'd found him perched in a tree.

"I just want to make the world a better place," The man continued, ignoring the boy's widened eyes. "And you can help me. Forget the flock, forget Max. _I _can keep you safe. I just need you to trust me."

_Max. _Even her name sent splinters of pain rushing through his body. But at least she wasn't here beside him, this time. Not this time. He'd protected her by leaving her, leaving them all behind. No matter what, he couldn't go back, not ever. Not until he knew everything was safe. Until he was safe.

"Please," Now the man's voice was pleading, almost begging him. The boy almost laughed: like he didn't have complete control over him. He was the one standing free, not cramped inside a dog crate. Just being cramped in one was sending waves of nostalgia over him. "I can make you so much stronger than the rest, remember Dylan? I can make you strong enough to defeat him and so much more. I just need you to trust me."

The boy looked up, his eyes raking over the doctor: his white coat, earnest eyes, over-long hair not unlike his own. Dr Gunther-Hagen. There were so many reasons not to trust him, after everything he'd done.

"I trust Max," He said quietly, looking down, "To save me from this."

All around him, chemical smells filled the air. Before, he'd had the flock behind him, Max at his side. This time, he was on his own.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Fang belongs to James Patterson, as do the other characters. Don't worry, I'm working on it. (:**

"Max?" Angel knocked tentatively on the door. Funny, just a few days ago she was all power-crazy, and now she was all sweet little kid again. And I'm meant to be the one with the Voice. "Max, please come out."

Was that an order?

"No, Max..." Damn, how could I forget her mind-reading abilities?

"We're really worried about you, Max!" Nudge. "Please, Max, it's not Fang's fault!"

Ow. There goes that strange pain in my chest again, just as I thought it was healing. Damn Fang for thinking he was keeping me from pain when really, he was just serving it up on a silver platter. All I had of him now was a letter stained with my tears (yes, _my _tears. The great Maximum Ride actually cried as her one true love left her. Corny much? Puts it all into perspective though, huh?) and a laptop stuffed full of files about him, me and the rest of the flock.

"Max..." What the hell was _he _doing up here? It'd only been a day since I'd locked myself into my room. I mean, seriously, was that so much different than what any other fifteen year-old would have done? But no, because it's me, and I'm so freaking special, I get pretty much everyone I know trying to break the door down. Okay, so that was a lie. They hadn't tried that – _yet. _It wasn't like they didn't have the strength. Maybe they thought I was in my underwear or something.

"No, Max, we just respect your privacy! And Jeb cares about you." Angel again. Damn her si-_seven_ year-old genius-ness.

"Max, come on. We need you." Oh, so now Iggy was joining in? Didn't seem like they needed me so much when they all voted me and Fang out of the flock, did it?

"This isn't about that Max, and you know it." Quit reading my mind, Angel, seriously.

_So you'll talk to me in your mind?_

I gritted my teeth, resolving not to think any more. Easier said than done when Angel was poking about in there.

"Max, are you okay?" Finally, someone actually being sympathetic. Too bad it had to come from Dylan, who I wish would walk off the edge of the earth at this moment in time. Maybe Fang would've stayed if he hadn't been here... Yeah, this was all Dylan's fault. It was _totally _fair to blame all this on him.

"I could fly in the window!" I head Total suggest eagerly. Selfish bugger, just wanted to use his wings.

"Max, stop being a bitch and get out here." Okay, that _was _an order. No way was I listening to a six year-old. "Really Max, I'll break the door down. I'm not kidding, we're all way too worried about you to just leave you in there." Definitely an order. Did I mention I'm seriously bad at taking orders?

"Please, Max?" Nudge's sweet, honest tone was almost breaking my heart. And my heart was protected by titanium spikes and at least twenty walls. Well, not really, but you get the one point. Too bad they'd already been scaled by someone.

"Max. Seriously." Angel sounded irritated. Not really surprising: we didn't see eye to eye on anything any more, not really.

"Max, come on," Gazzy was chiming in now, "You need to take us out for ice cream!"

"I'll take you for ice cream, Gaz," Nudge said. Little sweetie. "I think we have some in anyway."

"Not to it!" I heard Iggy giggle evilly with him, and that was enough for me to storm to the door, throwing it open.

"Okay, what are you guys planning?"

"_Max!_" I was attacked with a big ball of Nudge throwing herself at me, followed by Gazzy and even Angel joined in.

"Woah, guys!" I laughed, hugging them all back. "Ig? I'm over here." He grinned at me, and I knew he'd be rolling his eyes if he could. The Gasman sighed and pulled him into the hug forcefully, jolting us all off-balance. I never was one for big, happy-family scenes, but sometimes, my flock got the better of me. Plus, you know, it was totally a surprise assault. I didn't even notice Jeb and Dylan standing awkwardly on the outside looking in. It was perfect... almost. There was just one particular bird-kid missing. The tall one with long-ish scruffy hair, dark eyes, and a killer smile that made me weak at the knees. It was pathetic how his absence nagged at me, making me weaker than before. And the biggest fly in my ointment, ever, besides that phrase, was feeling weak.

"So are you okay again now?" Nudge asked once they'd finally released me, all of them grinning like idiots (which, incidentally... no, they're not idiots really). Sweet, naïve little Nudge. Who would've thought she was only three years younger than me? She'd never been in love, though. I smiled for her benefit.

"Sort of," I wasn't a liar. I just was only telling her half the truth. Angel raised her eyebrows at me, reading my mind. I stuck my tongue at her, surprised when she laughed instead of glaring as usual. Either she was in a very good mood for some (nearly always evil) reason, or she was plotting something. Right now, I'm not sure which one to go for. It was something evil though, I'm sure.

"I'm not planning anything, Max," She bundled herself into my arms again. Another hug? "I promise. You're the leader, 'kay? I'm sorry I kicked you out." She gave me an angelic smile (see what I did there? Angel_ic... _whatever.) I looked at her carefully: was this another plan to get my guards down?

"Maaaaax," I looked over at the Gasman, who was licking an ice lolly happily. Turned out he had nothing _really _evil up his sleeve, just being melodramatic as always. I swear, he and Total could perform a two-man soap opera based on their lives. Although I don't think Gazzy would really appreciate being called dramatic. Angel flashed me a smile, reading my mind. "Does this mean we have to go back to saving the world now?"

Crap. I'd forgotten about that. So me and the flock have this teensy little thing we have to do, you know, just to ensure the entire human race keep on breathing. We just have to save the world. As in the Earth. Yeah, that world. No biggy. Just meant we didn't have much of social life, any of us, what with the whole wings and mission thing. Kids were just intimidated by us. Not that we really tried to fit in. We'd been betrayed way too many times to really trust anyone that wasn't one of us. Dylan and Jeb included.

"No," Jeb answered _for me. _Yeah, another major fly in my ointment? People answering for me. Dude, when _my _flock asks _me _a question, _I'll _answer. Jeb sent me a quick glance, before squaring his shoulders and smiling at Gazzy again. "Not if you don't want to. It's not all up to you, Max. Besides, you need someone older to watch your back, and sorry, Ig--" He sent Iggy an apologetic look as if he'd be able to sense it-- "But you're not quite up to watching Max. I'm not letting you leave without someone who can take care of _you._"

I just stared at him. He actually thought he could stop us leaving? Cute. Very cute. But honestly? I hadn't even really thought about leaving yet. Not when I hadn't stopped crying in the nights yet. At least here I could do it in private, but out there? Yeah, the whole flock would know. But if Jeb thought he could stop us leaving, he was an idiot. Wait, we already knew that.

"Who's ready to leave, guys?" I completely ignored Jeb, an easy smile painted on my face. Four puzzled faces looked straight back at me. "Oh, keep _up _guys!"

"...I don't really _want _to leave, Max," Nudge looked up at me plaintively. Oh God, not this again. Not now. She must've seen the exasperation on my face (and I thought I had a good poker face), because she quickly added, "But, um, I will. I wanna go with you this time." She buried her little head in my chest, and I stroked her hair in a distinctly non-Max way.

"Thanks, sweetie," I meant it too. "Gazz? Ig? Ange?" I looked at each of them in turn. Angel nodded, smiling gleefully. What was going on in that girl's mind?

"Yeah, 'kay," The Gasman's voice was muffled by his ice-lolly. "Ig, you've got the bombs right?"

"Of course," Iggy grinned, and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm rolling my eyes, Ig," I told him, pushing Nudge gently off me so I could stand up properly.

"Hello?" Total rammed his little head against my left ankle. I looked down at him, moving my other right ankle out of the way so he was sent sprawling into the wall. I snorted as he shook his head indignantly, "What about _me? _Oh I'm just the _dog _am I now?"

"Sh," Angel cooed, picking him up into her arms and kissing his sore head gently. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes in a Max-like manner. "Are you coming, Total? Or are you staying with Akila?"

Akila, Total's... wife. I still found their marriage rather funny, but Total would never talk to me again if I laughed now, so I reluctantly kept my mouth shut. I know, miracle right? I guess Fang's leaving had taught some things, at least. Like how much all my flock, even Total, meant to me.

"Humph," Total huffed, "Well, see, Akila's... pregnant," If he was human, I swear he'd have been blushing. Nudge and Angel made appropriate 'awww' sounds, and even Gazzy and Iggy smiled. "So I think I'll stay here." He said this in such a very dignified way, with his snout right up in the air, that I had to bite my lip _very _hard to keep myself from laughing. Angel elbowed me helpfully in the side, evidently reading my mind. How often did she do that these days, anyway?

"So are we going?" Iggy butted in, as Total made a little gasp sound.

"Don't be a twit, Ig," I elbowed him as he showed me his palms. "We're very happy for you and Akila, Total. _Now _we're going, Ig." Nudge smiled at me, excited despite her evident reluctance to leave: the exhilaration of flying was definitely the best part of being a re-combinant mutant. Even better than the lack of social life. I wiggled my fingers at Jeb, who was glaring at me stonily, as he had throughout the entire conversation the flock and I had been having.

"Well, thanks for nothing, Jeb," His glare deepened. I turned to Dylan, who'd been strangely silent too, all night. "Dylan. Ready, guys?" They all nodded at me, their eyes on the open window. Gazzy tapped Iggy's hand twice. "Up and away!"

We unfolded our wings silently, catching an easy, cold breeze that had been flying through the room. I soared upwards, enjoying the sensation of wind whipping my hair back fiercely. I checked everyone was beside me: they were, silly smiles smeared on their faces. I knew my face was strangely grave though. It was because that, despite everything, there was just a certain fakeness about my movements, my communications. I was still hurting inside, but I was damned if I was about to show it.

_The flock needs you more than you need a tear-soaked pillow, Max._

Oh, _brilliant. _The Voice was finally back. For once though, it wasn't speaking some psychic rubbish. It was just telling me what I already knew.

**Hope you liked (: More plot next chapter, trust me (; **

**Cyber hugs to anyone who reviews. (:**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: My teeth are killing me from my freaking braces. I don't think James Patterson has braces, do you?**

"So, um, Max," I glanced at Nudge, who was flying happily between Angel and Gazzy. "Where are we going?"

"Oh, yeah, that," I smiled authoritatively, "I have a plan."

Actually, I had absolutely no idea, but I wasn't going to let the flock into that.

"God," Iggy was grinning widely, "Maximum _'Charging Off' _Ride actually has a plan. This day will forever go down in history, as-- Hey!" I knocked him off-balance easily, causing him to drop several inches. He came back with a vengeance, though, ramming me straight into Angel, who immediately shoved me away, right into Gazzy's path... well, you can guess what happened next, huh? If you can't, you're seriously unimaginative. Or stupid. Or both.

By the time we'd found a suitable tree to crash in for the night, we were all grinning, knowing we'd have some pretty damn impressive bruises tomorrow. Still, what was life without a little fun, eh?

I lay on a stable-looking branch, hands behind my head, eyes still open alertly. We didn't seem to be in any danger, but old habits die hard. Angel, Gazzy and Iggy were all fast asleep, Gazzy's mouth wide open, catching flies. I thanked God Iggy wasn't awake to throw something in there. It'd happened before, and it was a memory I'd rather forget. Ergh.

My branch creaked: I sat bolt upright, ready to wake the flock on a second's notice. It was just Nudge, though, crawling over to my side, so I relaxed. Well, as relaxed as _I_ could get. She pressed right up against my side, trying to take my warmth. No point in selfish: I looped my arm around her shoulders.

"What's up, sweetie?" I asked after a few minutes of silence. Nudge looked sweet, almost vulnerable in this light. And I've seen her rip an Eraser's head off. She didn't look quite so innocent then.

"Nothing, really," She leant her head against my shoulder. I sat, waiting for the inevitable rest. "I just... It's weird, without Fang. You miss him the most, though, right Max?"

_No freaking duh. _

"It's okay," I hugged her close, sensing she was close to tears. I'd had more than enough of wet stuff coming out of my own eyes the past couple of days, but I was the only one Nudge could really come to. Not that she could ever have actually gone to Fang. "I'm still here, right? And together we still kick butt."

She giggled through her silent tears, her arms tightening. Ow. I really would like to keep my ribs intact.

"Do you think he'll come back?" She voiced the question I'd been refusing to ask myself. It just hurt too much to even think about it. But here was twelve year-old Nudge, expecting some hopeful answer. Talk about awkward situation.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. She nodded.

"I hope he does." Her voice was almost inaudible. And this was chatterbox Nudge, the loudest of us all.

Me too, Nudge, me too. It was peaceful for a few minutes as we sat there, just thinking. Yes, my thoughts really are that interesting. Aren't yours?

Then something big, black and winged crashed straight into our tree. I sprung up instantly, bringing Nudge up with me.

"ATTACK!" I yelled, loud enough to wake the rest of the Flock. My eyes followed the something big, black and winged (hereby known as TSBBAW) as it backed away from the tree. I prepared myself to launch straight at it, my eyes narrowing. Hadn't we been through enough already? I mean, give us a _break _guys. But then Superman never got a holiday, so why should we?

"Ow," I heard TSSBAW complain loudly, just as I was about to dive it.

"Max," Nudge tugged at my sleeve, "It's... is it _him?_"

I can't tell you just how badly I wanted to say yes. I almost did. But still, I knew it wasn't Fang. He'd never complain about pain. That loudly, at least. And he'd never be clumsy to crash into a tree like that, he was too good a flyer. I knew who was though.

"God, Dylan," Nudge's eyes widened as she realised who it was, before she jumped down lightly, and took his hand to help guide him up.

"Heart attack much?" Angel added from her branch, glaring openly at him.

"Can't you, like, knock or something?" Gazzy chimed in typically. I rolled his eyes at his stupidity.

"It's a tree, Gaz," Iggy felt compelled to point out, yawning. "But, man, seriously. What time do you call this?" With that, he laid his head back down and promptly started snoring. I'm sure I've said this before, but... _prat._

"Dylan," I finally spoke up as he landed heavily on _my _branch. Actually, collapsed would be a better word. Nudge practically looked like a freaking fairy as she drifted down gently beside him. "What are you _doing _here?" I gave him my best poker face. Like I was going to tell him how far my heart had sunk when it had been him and not Fang. But I mean seriously, who gave him black wings? That was just mean.

"Um." He studied his feet carefully. Not that was an interesting thing I noticed that affected me so much. God, I think I might be delirious. Sleep-drunk. Or would it be sleep-deprived? See, this is why I tend to keep my mouth shut in the middle of the night. "I just figured you might need an extra hand, you know, with the whole saving the world thing. And, well... I'd rather be with you than anywhere else, really." He flashed me one of his smiles. And I gotta say, it wasn't unpleasant. But it also didn't turn my brain into mush like Fang's killer half-smiles.

"Right..." I shrugged. "So you decided to just stalk us? Why didn't you come earlier? I could've killed you by accident, you know, if I didn't figure out it was you and not some idiot." Gazzy snorted. I threw him a glare, totally unimpressed.

"You way jump to conclusions, Max," he explained, like we didn't know exactly what he meant. Now he was just trying to wind me up.

"You do, um, react quickly," Nudge said, almost against her will. Then I noticed her completely confused expression.

"Okay, Gaz, one, stop throwing your voice about," he whistled innocently, immediately confirming it was him, "And two, I do _not _jump to conclusions!"

"You just did," Angel said, "You just immediately thought that was Gaz and not Nudge." I glared at Gazzy, who was turned away from me. Coward.

"Funny. Not." I turned back to Dylan, "So. Why ya here?" Remind me when I had acquired a ridiculously strong Southern American accent? Oh God, please don't let me be going down that dark, dark path. Dylan just shifted uncomfortably.

_Max! He just didn't feel like he belonged... _Angel projected her thoughts into my brain and I flushed. Oops. Looked like I didn't really have a choice: Dylan had nowhere to go and besides, I felt kinda bad about all my pushing...

Which meant the next morning, he was flying with us, in Fang's vacant spot. Feeling that weird pain again, I switched places with Nudge, who didn't even bother to ask why she had to be next to TSSBAW (I couldn't stop referring to him as it now. I know, it's awful). I think she just knew. It sucked; despite my best efforts, the flock all knew it was killing me that Fang was gone. They didn't, however, realise that I still had no clue where we headed. There was, for once in our lives, nowhere we had to go, nothing we had to do... the CSM was taking a break for a while, to rest and recuperate, so we were pretty much obligation-free. Which was... nice, I guess.

"So, Angel," I tried my best to sound casual. Not easy when she was probably reading my mind too. "Where are we heading?" She flashed me a beaming smile. There was no probably about it: of _course _she was reading my mind.

"Um," She calculated quickly, "Los Angeles." Oh, God. Nudge's eyes lit up.

"Isn't that where..." She stage-whispered as I swore in as many languages other than English that I knew, "_Stars _live?"

"Stars live in the sky, Nudge," I said patiently.

"Not _those _kind of stars!" She rolled her eyes as Angel giggled. "Pleasecan we go Max? _Please?" _

I sighed as she gave me the ultimate puppy eyes. Just don't make eye contact. Eye contact is _death. _

"I don't know, Nudge..." I made sure not to look at her as I replied.

"Aw, go on Max!" Angel joined in, smiling sweetly. "It's not like you've got anything else planned..." She added ominously. Crap, what else had she read?

"We might as well," Dylan smiled at Nudge. Oh really? Really Dylan? Take the kid's side? Ugh.

"Okay, fine, whatever." I caved in, glaring at nothing in particular.

"Can we-" Gazzy started.

"No." I cut in. Any sentence starting with 'can we' from Gazzy normally meant bad news. He gave me an affronted look.

"I was just going to ask if we could go see the new Robert Pattinson film." WTH?

"Rob Pattinson?" The name was alien to me. "Who's that?"

Cue collective gasps from everyone except Dylan, who seemed to have completely tuned out.

"Just the most gorgeous guy _ever_," Nudge swooned and Angel nodded.

"I just think the film sounded good," offered the Gasman, shrugging. Iggy nodded.

"Okay..." I still didn't know who he was. Or cared, really. But if we really were going to LA... what did we have to lose?

**A/N: What a happy scene. Aha, just wait for it. (; **

**Review! **


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: If I was James Patterson I'd be beating myself up over the ending of Fang, not writing pointless fanfiction. **

"Max, you okay?" Dylan sped up unsteadily, trying to fly closer to me. Involuntarily, I swerved a little to the left, moving away from him.

"I'm fine," I replied tersely, my eyes scanning the horizon tensely. Angel frowned, trying to decipher my messed-up thoughts.

Truth was, we'd had a – shock, horror – _peaceful, undisturbed _flight so far, and I just couldn't shake the feeling that it was just, you know, a little bit... _too _smooth. Hell, we would've had more action on a plane. It was us, after all.

We got to see Los Angeles in all it's neon glory, as it was well gone 9pm by the time we glided over it. All the kids, normally chatting and bantering, had fallen silent a long time ago, all of them tired and hungry. Even Dylan had give up his – many – attempts at making conversation, focusing all his energy on staying airborne

Nudge let out a little sigh of contentment, in awe of the bustling streets, the 250-watt lights illuminating the skies, and, most of all, the large red carpet unfurled at the entrance of an impressive-looking building. Kind of cool, but personally, I thought it had nothing on Vegas.

"This is _so _cool! It's so... bright!" Nudge practically squealed. Angel smiled in agreement, her eyes raking the streets like I was, looking for a suitable landing spot. Like _I, the leader, _was. She caught my eyes and shrugged ruefully.

_Sorry. Old habits die hard._

WTF? How long had she been doing it?

_Calm down, I just meant that I got used to it when you and Nick left._

Nick? Oh, right. Fang.

_Max, I'm trying to be sensitive! Isn't calling him Nick easier? _

Not particularly, but you know, if it makes her... you?... happy, then okay. God, I hate talking to Angel (_you? _Damn, I don't know) in my head.

_Oh. Sorry. _

Whatever. I could feel the lights on my skin now, hot and irritating.

"We should land somewhere. You know, before someone looks up," I told the Flock, remembering that they weren't all mind-readers. Thank God. Nudge sighed a little. Hey, just call me Miss Buzz-kill.

"I wonder how much fire power it'd take, for a building that size..." Gazzy was muttering to himself. Did I really want to know?

"Yo, Gaz? Focus," I brushed one of his wings with my own, grabbing his attention and putting an end to his plotting. For the moment, at least.

"Max, over there!" Angel directed my gaze to a deserted, disused car-park covered in graffiti. So even LA wasn't immune to pinheads. The good part? It was surrounded by walls. With any luck, the population of LA would be too busy watching stick-thin movie stars parading down a carpet half-naked to notice our descent.

"Are you gonna be okay, Dylan?" Nudge was eyeing him doubtfully.

Should it be my job to be asking questions?

But then, I hadn't really been paying much, if any, attention to Dylan, especially considering this was his first proper long-distance flight. I felt a little pang of guilt, taking in the beads of sweat on his forehead for the first time.

"I'm fine, really," Dylan reassured her, sneaking a glance at me. I mustered up a smile, nodding, but I was mainly focusing on the girl walking down the carpet: was that _red _hair? Hm. Fang – Nick – was probably salivating over her, wherever he was now. Not that, you know, I was thinking about it, or anything.

"Max!" Angel's voice slit through my thoughts (my God, I must've actually taken something in during those few brief English lessons), sounding more leader-like than ever. I glared at her. Moi, not paying attention? As if.

I nodded at Gaz to give the strangely silent Iggy the signal: he tapped him twice on the hand, and we all dove into a graceful descent, landing lightly on our feet in a perfect line.

There was a loud crash from behind us, and I whirled round, my eyes darting about madly. Then the Gasman snorted loudly, and Angel dissolved into cute little-girl giggles.

_Calm down, Max. _

Very leaderly. Hm. Nudge suppressed a laugh, and flew over to where two muscular legs were protruding from a sea of trash.

_Then _I got it. Dylan had flown, head-first, straight into an over-flowing dumpster. Hahahahaha. Maybe I should give him flying lessons... and give up this entertainment? Nah. Nudge pulled lazily, not really exerting any strength, until Dylan flew out (literally) with a pop, not unlike the sound champagne makes when you pull the cork out.

Not that, you know, I would know that from first-hand experience.

"_Rubbish_ landing, Dyl," Gazzy tried as they rejoined us, Dylan grinning ruefully, covered head-to-toe in slimy gunk, decorated with various sweet-wrappers and tea-bags. He looked like a walking hobo Christmas tree, seeing as he'd lost his trainers in there too.

"Fail!" Nudge threw a piece of toast she'd scraped off Dylan at Gazzy, who dodged it, sticking out his tongue. His one-liners were crap, to give Nudge credit.

"Oops." Dylan was still flushing slightly, shying away from all our wide smiles.

"So," Angel skipped to my side happily, "Where to, Max?" They all looked at me, curiosity lighting their faces.

I thought for a moment.

Uh-uh. Blank. My GPS was all out-of-whack, seeing as I didn't exactly study maps of LA as a hobby. I knew who did, though.

"Where do you want to go?" I looked at Nudge. Much as I hated handing over my leadership responsibilities for even a moment, this was her dream town, not mine. Definitely not mine.

"How much money do we have?" Nudge's face was carefully arranged to conceal her excitement.

I smiled, remembering the credit card stashed in the pocket of my jeans, emblazoned with the name Jeb Batchelder. The code was, oh-so-originally, his birthday. I'd even taken the liberty (I sound like I'm from the Victorian Times) of checking the balance of it, the first night we stopped. He was freaking rich. I kid you not (I love that phrase), the guy has over $30,000. It was a real WTF moment, you know? Yeah, one of them. Still, I couldn't figure out how he could've gotten such an obscene amount. Bloody good for us, though.

Before I could present it victoriously, Dylan shoved a hand into one of his pockets, withdrawing a fistful of $20 notes.

"I have more," he noticed our startled expressions, and shrugged, smiling slightly. "I stole it from Jeb as I left. I'm not proud... but I figured we'd need it more than him."

Ooh, I almost felt sorry for Jeb. To be mugged by a forty year-old pickpocketing-master on the streets is one thing, but to have all your money stolen by a bunch of teenagers you let stay in your house? Burn.

"You know, you could like buy twenty pounds of dynamite with that," Gazzy sounded thoughtful. I swear, me and that kid were going to have a serious talk.

"Well, in that case..." Nudge ignored him like the rest of us, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "We're only ten minutes away from Beverly Hills Peninsula."

Four blank faces turned towards to her. Angel picked it all out of her mind, her face breaking into a huge smile. I was immediately suspicious.

"Which would be?" I raised an eyebrow.

"It's just this really nice, really expensive hotel," Nudge explained, waving her hands about like a nutter, "But, you know, we can afford it, so..."

"Why not?" Angel finished for her. The girls grinned at each other, teaming up. And I hadn't even said anything yet!

"You know where it is, right?" Nudge nodded emphatically (5 syllables? New record!).

"Of course! You turn left..." She rattled off a list of meaningless instructions while I nodded like I was listening.

_It looks really awesome._

Get outta here, Ange.

_:P_

She seriously just sent me an emoticon. In my mind. Never underestimate the power of a seven year-old mastermind.

"Come on, then," I said, against my better judgement. The girls squealed with excitement, Dylan smiled pleasurably, Gazzy just grunted, probably contemplating the latest prices for whatever explosive he was currently in love with, and Iggy didn't say anything. He'd been uncharacteristically (7 syllables! Oh I am good) quiet all night. Iggy, quiet? Something was definitely up with him. I made a mental note to talk to him later, then ran after the girls, who'd started skipping down the roads.

"Windbreakers, guys," I called out, having already grabbed mine from my backpack. They covered our wings effectively, and it was just so much easier than the whole people-scream-take-pictures-we-have-to-fly-away-and-get-attacked thing. If you know what I mean, which you probably don't.

"It's really big, huh?" I heard Angel asking Nudge as they half danced, half skipped ahead of us.

Understatement of the century. It was like a freaking palace. Seriously, it was one of the biggest buildings I've ever seen. Ever. Nudge started jumping up and down like a five year-old, clapping her hands.

"It's just as awesome as I imagined it!" She squeaked, ignoring my eye-roll. I couldn't even think of some sarcastic comment: I was in awe.

"It _is _pretty amazing," Dylan agreed, smiling at her in his modelly way (and I thought my English was getting better).

"Uh, guys? There's a door, like, right there?" The Gasman felt compelled to point out after we stood there staring for a while. Well, me, Angel, Nudge and Dylan stared while Gazzy stood there, bored, and Ig glared moodily at the floor.

"Let's go," Dylan suggested, and Angel rushed forwards.

"Me first!" She grabbed Nudge's hand and pulled her along, both of them giggling. Me and Dylan followed, him laughing, me rolling my eyes, and Gaz and Iggy brought up the rear, both of them looking half-dead of both tiredness and boredom.

"Gee, guys, don't get too over-excited," I said, my voice thick with sarcasm, "Calm down, _please._"

Iggy scowled at me, clearly not in the mood, and Gazzy just stuck his tongue out. The crystal glass doors slide open in front of us like magic. Did I seriously just call automatic doors magic? God, I so need a life.

Wow. Pretty. It was all golds and creams with professional-looking pictures dotted about, and soft-looking loungers with little stools to rest your feet on.

_This is the most prestigious hotel in America, Max. It's gotta be good!_

Damn, prestigious? Ange was catching me up in the English-syllable-war.

_Focus!_

I wish she'd quit giving me orders, though.

_Whatever._

Are you still here? Go, go, go.

...You gone?

_Yes._

Liar. Anyway, I walked up to the lady behind the glass counter, who looked the image of 'prim and proper'. She'd been eyeing Dylan until then, both for his looks, and the trail of rubbish he'd been leaving.

"Aw man, I'm so sorry," he bit his lip, "Little bit of an incident."

"Run-in with a bad man," Angel added, playing up her cute seven year-old-ness. Even though she normally looked about ten, when she batted her eyelashes and sucked her thumb a little bit, she could still just about pass for eight.

Wait, bad man?

"Oh," the woman's eyes softened considerably, full of concern, "What happened? Have you notified the police?"

"No," Gazzy said, looking worried, "We didn't know what to do. But we're okay, some men in uniform took him away..."

"My back really hurts, though," Nudge chimed in, holding her back as if in pain, "He was big and mean and violent!"

WTF?

_She's a mother, Max, I told them. This way she'll give us a nice big suite so that we don't have to share, and I don't have to... persuade her. I know you hate it when I use my gift like that!_

Since when did Angel care what I thought?

_Max! Of course I care..._

I met her eyes: they were genuinely filled with pain. All right. Sorry, Ange.

_It's okay... _

Hm. Her powers really had been intensifying: before, she could send small, individual thoughts of her own into our heads, but now she could hold proper conversations with us, all mentally. Actually, it could be very, very useful, thinking about it.

_I'll explain it all later, 'kay? Come on, she's looking at you, you're the oldest!_

"They're only young," I said to the woman, whose eyes were flickering between us all, "They just panicked, and of course, Iggy's blind..."

The woman's eyes widened as she stared into Iggy's.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that..." She sighed, then started tapping away at a keyboard at rapid speeds. I saw Angel smile a little, and knew we'd won. "Here, let me get you a nice suite where you can sleep easily..." She typed away for a few minutes, before looking up at us in triumph. "The Autumn Suite is just about big enough for all of you! I just need your name and credit card please, Miss."

I panicked for a moment before Nudge nudged me (see what I did there? Hahaha... never mind).

_It's okay, she's for real. Just don't give your real name, remember?_

Of course I freaking remembered, I was the one who made that rule!

_Sorry, habit..._

I didn't even want to know how she'd gotten that habit. Realising the woman was still waiting, I threw Jeb's card on the table.

"Jeb Batchelder," I said, already irritated with the stupid name, "I'm eighteen, as of last week, and these are my brothers and sisters. Our parents are away for the weekend, and they told us we should stay here, but well... you know what happened." I gave her my best smile and she fiddled with the card, scanning it, then pushing it into a plastic wallet and into a drawer.She then pulled out another wallet and pressed it into my hands.

"Okay, Jeb," she hadn't even questioned my age, "There are two card-keys for your room there, and passes for the pool and the spa. The autumn suite's just up the stairs and to the left. We'll charge any room service straight to your card, and it will all be deducted immediately. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to speak to customer service on the third floor. Entertainment is currently available at this time on the sixth floor, located in the bar. Please enjoy your stay!"

Wow. How did she remember all that? I could barely remember the date on a good day. We all started to walk away, in a bit of a daze, towards the ivory staircases, that probably cost more than anything I'd ever owned.

"By the way," I didn't turn back, but I did stop, listening to the woman, "Jeb is such an unusual name for a young woman... may I ask if it's short for anything?"

"Um." Time to think fast, something I was well-known for doing, if not liked, "...Geraldine? I mean, uh, yeah. Crystal couldn't pronounce it when she was little, so..."

Everyone looked at me weirdly, trying not to laugh. Except Gazzy, who was whistling into the distance. Oh, for crying out loud. I was going to murder him the next time he threw his voice about. Max 0, Gazzy 1.

Have you ever heard of automatic stairs? Well, let me tell you, they're _awesome. _I looked at one of the little floor-signs on the way up (exerting no energy, mind) and almost fell off them: twelve floors?! Who the hell needs twelve floors?

_Max, um, it's a hotel. Different people stay on different floors?_

...Smart-arse. It's too late for my brain to work properly, anyway.

The suite was... amazing. It took up half the floor on it's own, full of big airy rooms with huge windows overlooking tropical gardens.

"Wow," breathed Nudge. She was in absolute girl heaven, considering the room was all soft pinks and creams. Everything was pristine, like it was all still wrapped up in cling-film.

"Wow's one word for it," Dylan smiled at her, his eyes still disbelieving. "I wonder if I can find the shower without getting lost..." He smirked, then excused himself to go de-stink-ify.

Gazzy stared out of the window for a moment, then went and curled up on one of the sofas, looking moody and... wait for it... pensive. My vocabulary is too big for my head, I'm telling you.

Now, I just needed Angel, Nudge and Iggy to clear off for a while so I could find out what was up...

"Hey, Nudge, Ig," Angel called, disappearing behind a big arch, "Common, this way to the beds!" Nudge all but sprinted over there, followed by a much slower Iggy, who hadn't lifted his gaze from the floor once. I'd deal with Gazzy first, then I'd move onto Iggy.

"Gazzy?" I sat down beside him on the sofa carefully, resting one hand on his back. "Are you okay?" He shrugged unhelpfully. "Come on, what's up Gaz?" He just shrugged again. Oh God. "You're not, um, PMS-ing, are you?" He shot straight up.

"HELL NO!" Oh thank God. "Last time I checked, I'm _definitely _a guy." He stuck his tongue out as I raised my eyebrows, reminding myself he was nine.

"So what's up then?" He unexpectedly leaned into me. I put my arms around him, surprised. He leaned there for a while, before looking up at me.

"You're not gonna fall in love with Dylan, are you?" He asked plaintively. I felt myself freeze with shock. "It's just... like he's taking Fa... Nick's place, but... I miss Fnick." I almost laughed.

"I miss him too, Gaz, we all do," I whispered into his hair, "I'm never going to fall in love with Dylan, okay? The Flock comes first, and Nick'll always be one of us, whether he wants to be or not."

Gazzy nodded, reassured. Hm. It normally took quite a while to convince him of something, to really calm him down.

"So can I order pizza? And burgers?"

Ah. I'd forgotten to factor in his tiredness and hunger. I smiled.

"Get enough for all of us," I reminded him as I went off to hunt down Iggy. He just nodded, looking through the room service leaflet by the state-of-the-art phone.

I went down the small corridor, knocking on each door.

"Iggy?" I called, smacking the third door with my fist.

"Go away."

"Can I come in?"

No answer.

"I'm coming in," I didn't give him a chance to reply, turning the handle and finding it locked. Not bothering to order him to unlock it, I gave it a square roundhouse kick, and it clicked open to reveal Iggy lying on his bed, arms behind his head. Sigh. I'd have to take a different approach with Iggy than with the Gasman...

"What the hell's wrong with you?" He turned his head away from me. "Stop being such a wuss, Iggy and freaking look at me. What are you, Jeb?"

He smiled. Just a little, but enough for me to know he was weakening.

"Aw, come on Ig, talk to me..." He sat up, running his hands through his hair, but still, he didn't talk. "Please? I'm rolling my eyes, Ig." Sighing, he turned to me.

"Fine," He said. Result! "I think I might be losing my sight."

"Uh, hate to tell you, Ig, but you're blind." He scowled.

"I know _that, _Gerald," he smirked, "But you know how I can see in bright light? I couldn't see a thing up in the sky."

Oh. So that's what'd been eating away at him.

"Well... the only other time you've been able to see is when the bright stuff's been white, right?" Poet and I didn't know it. Iggy nodded, not understanding where I was going with this. "The lights tonight were kind of... tinted yellow." I wasn't even lying.

Iggy nodded like this was making complete sense.

"So I can only see in white light..." He sounded thoughtful, a bad sign normally, because it meant he was actually thinking about what he was blowing up, or setting on fire, or... the possibilities are endless. "I'll have to make sure the strippers have spotlights behind them, then."

Pervert.

"Iggy." I reached out and slapped him, but not too hard. I was just pleased I'd managed to cheer him up, even if it was only marginally.

"Sorry," He had the decency to at least _sound _ashamed, even if I knew he wasn't.

He usually just made disgusting jokes around... Nick. But now he wasn't here, it looked like I'd be getting them. Sigh.

"Gazzy's ordering food, by the way," and just like that, I was alone. I laughed to myself as I walked out of the room, back into the hallway.

I still couldn't believe we were actually staying at a hotel. It was definitely a huge change for us bird-kids, seeing as we normally stay at Hotel a la Birch. They were loving it though, and, really, where was the harm? We'd stay a few days here, a week tops, and then we'd go back to our mission, fully rested and it'd put us all in a good mood, with any luck.

There was still something missing though, from our essential make-up. Gazzy's words had bothered me, more than I'd let on. He'd thought I was replacing... Nick, with Dylan... As if anyone could ever fill Fang's place. I mean Nick.

I strolled slowly back into the main hub room, where Angel and Nudge had rejoined the boys, Angel having already stolen the pamphlet off Gazzy, and Nudge in deep conversation with Dylan, both of them gesticulating madly and laughing. Well, at least he was fitting in. But not in Nick's place. Never in Nick's place.

**A/N: Hell, that was long. Sorry, I got carried away. 9 pages, apologies. By the way, I've never stayed at the Peninsula (duh), so I don't actually know _all _the details, as their website doesn't have a section for idiotic fanfic writers. **

**So, thoughts and opinions? **

**Reviewers get choc chip cookies from Dr M's oven (;**


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I'm not James Patterson (no freaking duh). **

**A/N: Oops. Sorry, I've sort of been neglecting my fanfic for the past few weeks 'cos I've had exams -.- Plus I'm working on something original (: But anywayyyyy, here's the next chapter (: **

"I'm going down to the pool," Angel called to me where I was stretching out my wings in the sun with Nudge on the balcony.

The good thing about taking advantage of a kind woman? You got privacy. Which, you know, for a bunch of bird-kids like us, we didn't get so often.

Gazzy, Iggy and Dylan were already causing havoc down at the huge pool. Okay, I say all three of them: I mean Gaz and Ig. Who else? I'd already had three different attendants come tell me about their various (read as: idiotic) experiments, and how they'd driven out over fifty other (now complaining) guests. It was quite funny, actually. Especially the wave bomb. But the funniest thing was that they expected me to be shocked. Or apologetic. I mean, come on.

"Um. Nice to know." I'd told the last attendant before opening the door for her. She gave me a very affronted look then stalked out, looking a bit like Gazzy had the time he'd tried on Nudge's heels (see why I worry about him?).

"Alright, Angel, be careful," I called back to her, not even opening my eyes.

_You honestly think I'm going to acknowledge them?_

I think they're going to acknowledge you.

_...Good point._

Exactly. Go away now Ange...

Are you gone?

...I think she's gone. I don't know, though, so I'd better think quick... well, that's something you think every day, is it? Angel was acting _weird. _I mean like different from her normal freakishness, like... strange even for her.

I mean, she's normally totally obsessed with becoming leader, and one-upping me. _All the time. _But since Nick went away, it's like it used to be, when life was all sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. It's kinda unnerving.

"Hey, Max?" Nudge leaned on one elbow, her hand cupping her chin. She was dressed in one of her oldest outfits, leggings and a long purple t-shirt, and instead of looking like a kid who was half-dead (I can't help it!), she looked like a runaway fashion model. Despite the various holes. And, uh, the wings.

"'Sup?" I pulled down my sunglasses like superheroes do, but somehow managed to drop them. Off the balcony. Can you even say epic fail enough times?

"Fail!" Nudge giggled like she was reading my mind. Not literally, it's a... oh, never mind.

"Whatever," I shrugged like it was no big deal, but they were my _favourite _sunglasses. They made me look like Keira Knightley in Pirates of The Caribbean. Mainly because they hid most of my face and all you could see was my hair which looked blonde in the sun. "So whassup?"

"Um." Nudge took her own sunglasses off and placed them on the table between us. "I was just wondering, you know, if it felt like, how would you know it's true if, you know, um--"

"Nudge. Spit it out."

"How do you know if you're in love?"

She was blushing like a strawberry lollipop. My Nudge? In love? No way.

"Well..." I tried for delicacy. "You, um... you can't stop thinking about them. And stuff." Nudge nodded like it made sense. "Why? Who'd you like?"

"Oh, no one." I raised an eyebrow.

"Is it Iggy?" Nudge looked horrified.

"No _way!" _

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks," grinned a soaking Angel who'd just hovered out into the sun. I looked at her. She looked at me. Burn marks covered her clothes. I _wonder _who could've done that...

"Which one?"

"Both."

"What'd they do?"

"They were testing if chlorine can be used as an explosive."

"No freaking duh."

Isn't it funny how we both knew exactly who we were talking about? Even Nudge understood.

"Where's Dylan?" She asked.

"Um, I think he went down to the shop." Angel was blushing.

"Why?"

"Um... His clothes burnt in... inappropriate places..."

"Oh." Nudge's cheeks burnt as she registered Angel's meaning.

"Thank you for the mental image Ange," I rolled my eyes.

"I'm really, really glad that was a joke, Max," Angel shuddered a little and Nudge giggled. "Um, I'm gonna go get cleaned up...Nudge! She'd kill us!"

Hm? What was this?

"We can't..."

I get the feeling that this is discrimination. It is so unfair for them to have a thought and speaking conversation. And I mean, it's so obviously about me. Really, Angel?

_Shh, I can't concentrate with you screaming like that!_

Concentrate on what?

_...Um. Nothing. Plans to behead Ig and Gazzy. _

Yeah, right.

"I'm going to my room," I announced moodily. They both nodded, involved in a thoughts-only conversation.

There was a computer in my room, with full wi-fi. I think Gazzy and Iggy have already blown up most of the others with various explosives I really didn't want to think about. Isn't it amazing how much damage a couple of idiot birdkids could do in a single night?

I could boot it up. But then what would I have to go on? It wasn't like I was an internet maniac, I was usually, you know, trying to stay alive and not get myself killed. Because, yeah, slight problem: if I died, the universe was doomed. So it was kind of important that I kept breathing.

Still, it might pass the time. Even if I wasn't tapping away at a keyboard all the time like Fang, it would still... OMG.

My face: :O

There was no way. No, I wasn't going to do it.

HANDS! Do _not _press that button! No, no typing...

_Max?_

Hi, Angel-- NO! No typing!

_Um... what's up?_

How long've you been tuned in? Oh crap, don't bring the browser up!

_From when you started thought-screaming... at your hands. _

Hm? Oh, yeah, that bit. Nothing's up, really, just going on the computer for a bit... Oh brilliant, I think I've forgotten the add— Oh. Maybe not.

_We're gonna come get you, Max, just hold on a sec! You can come with us!_

Where? They're going towards the enter key now. I swear I'm not commanding this, I'm not that lazy! I can move a mouse to the 'go' button.

Angel?

Oh, she's gone. Well, actually, she's probably trying to ignore me.

Oh my God. It's come up.

**Welcome to Fang's blog. **

**Time: Too late.**

**The visitor thing's still broken. Stupid thing.**

_Yo, _

_Fang here. Duh. All right, so I know it's been a while, but I've been busy. I haven't had time to think of any good stuff for this week's letter, so you're gonna be disappointed. So the week before last (sorry, missed a week. Don't kill me, guys) I wrote (well, not literally) to Angel, right? I think it's past time I wrote one to Max. So, here goes. Oh, and Fanglicious4Eva, no, the Flock aren't reading these. I just know. Anyway. _

_Dear Max,_

_I'm not gonna try and justify what I did, because I know you'll just roll your eyes like you always do. Besides, I can't, anyway, but I did it for you. Because, despite it all--_

"Max!" Everything went black. And my eyes were open. Huh? It took me a good few seconds to realise that Nudge and Angel had crept up behind me and thrown a bin bag over my head.

"Is this... Oh my God!"

Looks they saw Fang's blog.

_No kidding! Max, why are you doing this to yourself?_

I'm not doing nothing.

_That's a double negative! _

I could seriously hear the sigh in her voice. Was I the one who taught her grammar? Why, past self, WHY?

_...I think there's a medical department in the building somewhere, I'm sure we can get you some medication!_

Shut up, Angel. What are you guys _doing?_

_Oh. Oops, we got distracted!_

Then she stopped talking (thinking?), and I heard them giggling and whispering to each other. I tried ripping the bag off, but they were both sitting on it, and although I could probably throw them off, I figured they weren't going to actually torture me, or anything...

**[The line dividers hate me. Imagine it, 'kay? (;] **

I take it back. They were definitely torturing me. I mean, seriously, a _spa? _Really, guys?

_You know you're enjoying it!_

Or not.

"Excuse me... Miss Ride?" A way-too-perky woman was literally skipping up to where I was collapsed (you can't blame me, I'd just had my legs waxed. Never, ever again)

"Uh-huh?"

"Well, we're ready for your manicure and pedicure now!" She gave a happy sort of jump. WTH? What person is so freaking happy about torture that they jump up and down about it?

_Stop being difficult._

_I'm _being difficult? Well, I am, but they shouldn't have brought me here. They so brought this on themselves.

"Miss Ride? Are you okay?"

"No, I'm dead. The funeral's next week, bring presents."

_Max._

The lady laughed nervously.

"Sure! Um, would you like to come this way?"

"Not really, but fine!" I mimicked her high-toned voice and strolled past her cockily, sarcasm just dripping off me. Not literally, of course.

_Max, please. You're not normally like this!_

Sure I am Ange, I've just been holding it in.

_You know what? You're right. You've just been holding this all in since F—Nick left, haven't you? Just waiting for some innocent person to take it all out on! _

Angel...

_Just _try _and enjoy yourself, at least! The mani-pedi isn't that bad, I swear._

Sigh. Well, if you swear... Hang on, little kids shouldn't swear!

_Still, don't hit us for it. I mean, we have guns now. _

I almost laughed. A while back, when Nick was still with us, he'd gotten a bit obsessed with the little flashing icon-things you find online, especially the 'DON'T HIT KIDS. Seriously, they have guns now' one, which he used to quote all the time. Talk about annoying.

_No, we found it annoying, you found it cute._

...How can she remember my thoughts better than me?

"Miss Ride?" The woman had walked past me and was now watching me cautiously from the doorway.

"Max! Come on, it's awesome in here!"

Nudge was in there? Right, that's me gone.

_Don't be mean. _

Stop reading my thoughts! I mean, _seriously! _

"Sorry," I was genuine, too. I gave her a smile, and then subjected myself to the terror of nail-painting.

Shudder.

"Hiya!" Nudge sounded like a bad extra from a crappy TV-programme.

_If you're trying to make jibes at Glee, it won't work. _

Shut up Angel, I didn't mention that _particularly _crappy TV programme, did I? I said _a _bad TV programme, not that one.

_Your intent was clear._

"Are you arguing with Angel?" Nudge asked while someone kneeling painted her toes a vibrant pink. Her toenails, I mean, not her actual toes. That'd be kind of freaky.

"Yeah," I admitted, my eyes watching the person painting my fingernails with military precision. I swear, if they got one drop on my skin, they'd burst into tears and go live in the Emo Corner. Yeah, not _an _Emo Corner, _the _Emo Corner. That's how serious they were about their work. Painting nails. Yeah. "How'd you know?"

"You just make this really weird face. You keep doing it!"

Gee, flattering. How head-inflating.

"We argue a lot," I said grudgingly. I hope you heard that, Angel.

_That was immature and hurtful._

...Right, okay. If you say so.

I felt something clench my foot, and call me crazy, but I immediately lashed out with it, and hard. There was a sickening crack, and I looked down to see the over-happy woman cupping her nose in her hands. I'd broken it. Oops.

_Max, you _idiot!

That was soon seconded by Nudge, who put her arm around the woman and tried to pick her up from the floor with encouraging words. But she wouldn't move.

"I'm so sorry," I tried to step around the little pool of blood and ended up slipping and crashing straight into the woman, who just started crying louder.

_Oh, smooth, Max. Real smooth. _

"You've been against me from the start!" she started screeching, pointing at me as Nudge handed her to a paramedic. "This is the only reason you came here!"

...Okay, let's all say it together. **Psycho. **

_I think it's time for us to go._

Me too, Angel, me too.

"Nudge, we need to gather the flock and go," she nodded like she'd been expecting it, "can you get Dylan? I'll get the hotel idiots and Angel can get all our stuff."

"Stuff?"

"She'll steal some food from the kitchen."

"Oh, right."

"Meet at the entrance in ten?"

"Sure! And, Max?" I looked at her. "It'll all be okay. Honestly." She enfolded me in a quick hug then ran off, humming 'What Time Is It?' under her breath.

"Thank you sweetie," I called after her, my bad mood vanishing as I left the spa. Stupid place. I'd left a $20 note at Hell's gates to apologise without apologising. Hey, it's as good as it's gonna get!

The pool was empty of water when I got there, the rest of the room absolutely soaking. And in the middle of it? Yup, the hotel idiots.

"Guys, can we not visit one place without you blowing it up?"

"You know you love it really!" Gazzy cried out, flying up to join me at the door.

"Correction, she loves _us _really," Iggy grinned, jumping to a stop at my side.

"If it helps you sleep at night..." I winked, "then sure. Anyway, we have to go."

"Aw," Gazzy moaned, "what'd you do _this time?_"

I wasn't even offended any more.

"Broke a spa person's nose," I shrugged, "I'm shrugging, Ig."

"Oh. Well, they shouldn't have put you in a spa."

"Finally! Sense! Come on, I said we'd meet Nudge and Angel in five."

We all walked as normally as we could to the great glass doors, picking the card out of the desk on the way. Luckily for us, it seemed like that woman was making a big enough fuss for it to be a hotel-wide emergency.

Angel was lounging on the side of one of the walls, looking confused. When she saw me, she smiled.

"Max," she called, "Nudge wants to talk to you!"

"And, pray tell me, how are you going to arrange that?" She came and clasped my shoulder.

"Like this!" she said brightly, then she closed her eyes.

"Whoa, Angel, what are you---" then I felt a strange whoosh through my brain, as if cold air had just been blown through my head. A moment later, there was a strange sensation of warmth and tingling all over my head, and when I closed my eyes, I could see Nudge on my lids, searching through racks of clothes with a frantic look in her eyes.

"Angel, how do you _do _that?"

Nudge's head snapped up.

_Max?_

I saw her speak the word, but I could hear it in my head like Angel. Nudge?

_Max!_

_This _time we both realised we only needed to think for it to work.

"Can she see me?" I asked Angel.

"No," she said, "only you can see her."

I can see you, Nudge. Now I sound like some creepy paedo. I'm not, by the way, Nudge, I'm just Max. She giggled.

_Okay. Max, there's something really, really wrong here! _

'Sup?

_You know Angel said Dylan was definitely down here?_

Angel just said yeah.

_Well, here's the thing: the man at the desk said he saw him come in here about an hour ago, but he never came out. _

What? You're kidding me.

_Oh, but Max, that's not all! Dr... Dr.. Hun...No, Han..._

G-H?

_Yeah! The man said a doctor with a really weird, long name came in here not long after him. _

Please tell me this is all an elaborate joke.

_No... I think Dr G-H has kidnapped Dylan!_

**A/N: Well, sorry for stopping there . xDD So now I can begin developing the plot, and Fang soon (: Is anyone actually reading this? 'Cos I feel like only (the awesomest) HerGoldenWings and InkedHeart are reading this right now. So you know, if you are...**

**...review please! (:**


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but plot. [That sounds weird]**

**A/N: (: Thank you guys for the reviews! I promise there shall be Fang. Soon. (; Enjoyeth. **

**Chapter 5: Birdnapped! [I just had to name this one]**

There was a really long silence, and I couldn't hear Nudge's thoughts any more, I just saw her stop looking, and stand motionless for a few seconds. Gazzy was trying to tug on my arm, but Angel was stopping him with her all-authoritative death glares (seriously, they're almost as good as mine. _Almost._). Then I saw a little tear snake it's way down Nudge's cheek, and her thoughts reverberated (I'm getting really good at this English crap) around my head again:

_Not again. First F—Nick, now Dylan!_

Oh man. Not the return of Fnick. I mean, oh man, Nudge was really upset.

_Nudge, sweetie, it's okay. Come here so we can all talk about it together..._

She sniffled a little, and a woman browsing next to her looked at her like she was about to attack her... I mean, looked at her with a worried expression. I'm paranoid! Especially after one of us was kidnapped.

_We're gonna save him, right Max?_

_Right. Come on, we're all waiting for you. _

I opened my eyes, and the strange connection died a little bit. To be honest, I didn't know what to think. There was so much to take in right now: Dr G-H, Dylan, Angel's 'new' power... and Iggy was trying to set the potted plants on fire.

"Ig!" I shouted, just before he could move his smoking hand to the leaves of the plant. Hang on, wait, it wasn't his hand smoking, it was something in his hand. He turned to me, eyebrows raised. "What _is _that?"

He smirked a little bit, but I could see he was being moody. I thought we'd gotten over this last night, for crying out loud.

"My feelings," he said, before he drew his hand back, preparing to throw it.

"Yeah? Nice." I glared at him. Damn, the effects are lost on him.

_Tell me about it._

Feel like helping out Angel?

_Um... Iggy's thoughts... _

Do share.

_I really, really shouldn't. You'll find them out soon enough anyway!_

...You're helpful, Ange.

"Ig, what's up?" Diplomatic being, me.

"Nothing," he said through gritted teeth, but he hadn't thrown it yet. Which is... good. Definitely an improvement on the old Iggy. Looks like the anger management sessions with Total helped him in the end no matter how much cussing we heard from that room that week. Good times.

"Put them away, Ig," I glanced at the reception desk. Empty. Still. These employees really do work hard, don't they? I could do a better job than them. And I wouldn't call an emergency if some kid broke my nose. And that's coming from a mutant bird freak.

"Why?"

"There are little children around."

"What if I don't care?"

...This is where I grab him in a headlock and strangle him (well. Sort of.) until he drops whatever it is.

_Hang on... _

What?

_I'm going to talk to him..._

I waited for Angel to go and tug on his arm and give him her Bambi look (it kills, don't try it at home), but nothing happened. Oh. Mental slap time, of course she's going to thought-talk to him... I really need to find a new name for that.

Then Iggy relaxed all over, and reluctantly stowed the smoking ball of 'feelings' into his rucksack, mumbling something that really shouldn't be repeated. Gaz went over and whispered something in his ear, causing Iggy to grin, Angel to fly over and smack him, and Nudge to magically appear. She looked completely dejected, her little head drooping.

Say it all together now: _aww._

"Are you okay sweetie?" I enfolded her in a feather-free hug (see, this could be an advert. Sugar-free, feather-free... leave me to my ramblings, people, this is why I don't have a diary. I'd just scare myself.).

See, I can do this Mum stuff!

Ew. I just imagined that I really was... does that thought really need finishing? Ew.

"It's just like weird you know! Like the time Total tried to give Iggy anger management lessons weird! I never thought I'd miss him but you know, it's like F—Nick all over again, and I miss him already! I miss Ella and Dr M too and I miss the old Jeb and I even miss the old Ari! I think if I miss anyone else I'm gonna explode!" She looked up at me balefully.

…

"Uh, Nudge, sweetie, do you think you could repeat that a little bit slower?" I tried to be delicate.

"Yeah, like a hundred kabillion times slower?" Sometimes I really hate Gazzy.

"Kabillion isn't a real number, idiot," Angel pointed out. Gazzy just stuck his tongue out and started muttering something. For the second time, Angel slapped him. "Ow!"

"Angel, leave Gazzy alone even if he is being super amazingly irritating," I said automatically. What can I say, Nudge is catchable.

"We need to save him," Nudge said suddenly. She was determined, too, I could tell. Well... maybe this would be a good thing. Maybe. Probably not, but I like to give bad ideas the benefit of the doubt, you know? Otherwise I'd be being... idea-ist.

...This really is why I don't have a diary.

"No we don't," Iggy argued, kicking the (still empty, I might add) receptionist's desk with unneeded violence. Inanimate objects have feelings, people! See, that can be our next project. The IAFC: Inanimate Objects Feelings Campaign, featuring the mutant DNA-recombinants! See, that would do more than Fnick's stupid blog.

_Max, this really isn't the time to go insane._

I'm not going insane Angel. This is a totally true idea! How would you feel if you were an inanimate object?

_I really don't want to comment on that, Max._

I bet everyone else would agree with me.

_Everyone else is more concentrated on the fact that Dr G-H has kidnapped Dylan!_

"Iggy! How could you say something like that?" I snapped back to reality (I still think the IAFC is an awesome idea, though) at Nudge's outraged voice.

"Because it's not like he's one of us."

"Anyone that lets you almost blow them up is one of us!"

"I see the rules of the flock have been changed. Besides, it's only because that explosion went wrong."

"Yeah, it almost killed him! And he was totally cool about it! He didn't complain about it once! How was he meant to know it went wrong?"

"Because it _almost _killed him."

"Oh em gee you were trying to kill Dylan!" Nudge seemed to gear herself up for a real screaming retort, then sort of flopped down like a burnt marshmallow (I love marshmallows as much as the next person, but burnt marshmallows are just icky. And I mean, they should totally come in blue and orange and other colours. They're so colour-ist.). "Why would you do that, Ig?"

He looked at her, and the rage in his expression melted off like rainwater in a waterfall (...okay, that last simile didn't really work. Cut me some slack, I'm trying!).

"Because..." he sighed, then his expression hardened again. "If you can't figure it out, I'm not about to tell you. So what are we doing about this birdnap anyway?"

Huh? Oh, I'm being called upon to save the conversation again. I deliberately worded that so I sounded like a superhero.

"Well, first thing's first," I chose to ignore the little disagreement (read as: screaming match) that had gone on between Nudge and Iggy just seconds before (well, not really seconds, but you know what I mean). "How did Dr G-H even find us?"

I was met with blank stares (not that I don't expect that from Ig) from the rest of them, even from Angel.

"Okayyyy... I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"We're gonna be crossing a bridge? Like instead of flying over it? Aw man, can I blow it up behind us? I've always wanted to do that!" The scary thing was, the Gasman was totally serious. Sometimes I despair of that kid.

_You and me both_.

"No, Gaz, it's an expression," I explained as patiently as I could while Nudge and Angel rolled their eyes at one another.

"...can we still cross the bridge?"

"What bridge?"

"The bridge you said we're gonna come to!"

…God help me.

"There's no bridge, okay?"

"But you said there was a bridge!"

"It's an expression!"

"You mean a lie."

"...Gaz, please."

"Humph. Shun the liar!"

"Don't quote Charlie the Unicorn at me!"

"Charlie the Unicorn is my best friend!"

"I thought I was your best friend," Iggy chose to chime in.

"I meant my husband-to-be," Gazzy corrected.

"Fiancée," Angel dropped her penny in.

"Fiancée, husband-to-be, same thing!" Gazzy stuck his tongue out yet again. I swear, I could do a sketch of the thing now, I'd seen it so many times.

...Ew.

"Okay, so Gazzy's marrying a mythical creature in a video, and Dylan's been birdnapped. Wonder which one's, like, more important!" Nudge finally shouted after a few more pointless insults. Aw, she was really upset.

Angel shot me a look that said 'you don't know the half of it' and clamped her hand over Gazzy's mouth. I met his bulging eyes as he tried to throw his sister off, and then I started laughing.

I mean, _really_ laughing. Like you know the really embarrassing laughing when you're the only one laughing in an awkward situation and you know you should stop, but you just can't? _That _kind of laughing.

"Max? Are you okay?" Nudge tentatively asked after a few moments where they just stared at me like a freak. Ironic.

"I'm... f-f-f..." I gave up, the giggles were just overpowering me. Never underestimate a laughing fit, guys. They're deadly powerful. Tears were streaming out of my eyes now. Wait, tears? Oh no. Maximum Ride does _not _cry in front of her flock. Well, not if she can help it. But you know, if everyone's crying with her then they generally don't notice and she can lie about it later.

_Um, Max? Why are you, um, thinking in 3rd person? ...While laughing?_

...That's the best question I've ever been asked in my life.

_Okay, Max? You can stop laughing now._

Hm. I can feel this weird power over me... I mean, I could totally resist it, but I think I'll give in for now...

_:) My power!_

Oh. I've stopped laughing. Now everyone is starting... except Nudge. But I'm not gonna stop them: if they start crying then I can lie about my tears!

"Nudge, sweetie?" I put my arms around her; she must've had a growth spurt, because she's not that much smaller than me any more. She buried her face in my chest and I could feel the tears soaking through it. Okay, maybe enough was enough. We'd had our laughs... No pun intended, honestly. That was just fate conspiring against me. "Okay, guys? Come on, we do need to figure out what we're doing, right?"

Angel sobered up immediately (not that she'd been drunk or anything. Heck, can bird kids even get drunk? Ig probably knows, cooking meister he is).

"Yeah, they'll mop up all the blood eventually!"

"Right. So... where d'you think he's taken Dylan?" Again, I was met with blank stares. How was I meant to know? Sure, I was the leader, but Angel was the telepathic one!

_Well that doesn't really help much in this situation either, Max. I'm not all-knowing._

...There's just not much you don't know.

_Okay, I'll give you that one!_

Exactly. But, how am I meant to know where to go? This would be a really nice time for one of those Sat-Nav things to pop out of the ceiling and say: 'Take the next left. You have reached your destination' but I don't think they make them for mutants. Yet. You never know, that could be something we add into our IAFC!

**Think with your heart Max, not your head.**

Oh hello again! It's been a while since I've heard from you, Voice. Nice to know you pop up in the best (worst) situations. Note to self: when want to hear voice, get self nearly killed and will impart pearls of wisdom no one wants to hear.

**You're thinking too logically, Max. Think with your heart. Where would he take his most prized success? **

Well, when you put it like that. He wouldn't exactly take him to an old basement, or the sewers, or anything like that. Maybe he took him to Charlie the Unicorn land.

**Think seriously, Max. Where have you been before that Dylan has not? **

Las Vegas? The backseat of Mum's car? Fnick's arms? He had so better not be in Fnick's arms.

**I can tell you no more. **

So...?

**Let me show you.**

WTH? There was a long silence, and then I heard a strange whooshing noise in my head, and I had to close my eyes. I can't explain it, but there was a weird flashing light in front of me, and if I kept them open, I felt like I'd die. No joke. The flock all cried out as I fell to my knees. The darkness behind my eyes started to flicker madly, little static bugs dancing in the middle of an inky black sea (by golly, I think I've got it! Well, the english crap at least).

Then I could see. Well, not literally, but you know. I gasped as the Voice brought back pictures from the deepest depths of my mind, the memories I wanted to bury and never live again. White coats swishing, needles point-deep in flesh, dog crates all lined up.

In short, the School.

Gasping, I literally wrenched my eyelids open to find Angel kneeling beside me, watching me with big, blue eyes anxiously.

"I saw it too, Max," she said quietly before throwing herself into my arms. I held her, and for once I saw her as a scared seven year-old instead of a scar_y _mind-controlling leader obsessive.

"What? What did you see?" Gazzy was literally jumping up and down. I looked up and smiled at him, even though I was just as freaked out as Angel.

"Well, we know where Dylan is," I announced as cheerily as I could. Nudge let out a little squeal and hugged me. Hard. Have you ever been in one of Nudge's bear-hugs? I'm telling you now, stay out of them. They're almost as bad as her puppy eyes.

"Where?"

"The School." Cue collective gasps from all the flock. Yeah. You can't really blame us: the School was a seriously dark patch in our lives. Like those oil puddles you find in stupid car racing games that Gazzy and Iggy like to play that send your car spinning. It sent our lives spinning. And in a bad way. Ever been cooped up in a dog crate for years? Don't try it.

"Nudge, we can't go back there," Iggy said softly. I glanced over at Nudge, who'd very slowly let me and Angel go, and found her sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, little tears falling from her eyes. Gazzy was sat beside her, his face a picture of shock. Go look up shock in the dictionary, and you'll find the Gasman's face right now. And Iggy wasn't even taking a picture of it. Instead, he was sitting beside Nudge, slinging a comforting arm around her shoulders. Aww.

**Max, do not give up hope. For when you find what you seek, you will also reunite with your heart's desire.**

Hey, Voice? Do me a favour and _give me a clue. _WTH is that meant to mean? Angel, did you hear that? Any help?

_I think... I think it means if we find Dylan, we'll find... _

Our eyes met and she mouthed one word.

_Fang._

And _that's _what got me jumping into action, got Nudge smiling again, got Iggy frowning somewhat, the Gasman all determined in his cute little way, and Angel sticking to me like glue. Just like old days.

Because there's only one person I'd go back to the School for. Ever.

Even if it was just to give him a slap for leaving me like that.

**A/N: (: Long-ish chapter again? I toldja I'd get Fang in there soon. Hope it wasn't too angsty and stuff, it's not really meant to be. But you know, the only way I'll know what you think is if you review, so you know... press that little link and let me know!**

**Review! [For Fang (;]**


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Nah, still not JP. Couple of lines based on the Mortal Instruments and Confessions of Georgia Nicolson respectively, too, so don't really own them.**

**A/N: (: Thank you guys for the reviews, they made me smile [and Fang too, wherever he is...] Dedicated to FANGLOVER for reasons that are obvious to her, thank you for helping out (: [QUIT BUGGING ME (;] Sorry for the wait, enjoy.**

Once we were up in the open skies, with nothing but clouds (other than each other, of course) for company, I let myself relax a little. With the air whipping around me, the flock all safely flying beside me, I felt so-

Who am I kidding? Maximum Ride being calm was pretty much unheard of, and, much as I hated to admit Iggy was right, I guess I could see the reasoning behind that one. But honestly, what do you expect? If we're not dodging bullets, we're being hunted by some freak bunch of white coats. Or being birdnapped by the freakiest white coat out there. Okay, that last one only applied to Dylan, and maybe, just possibly, Fang?

Maybe. Possibly.

"You're repeating yourself," Angel remarked cheerfully from the left side of me. Hm. Strange.

"How come you're so happy?" Ah, so the Gasman voices my thoughts. Not that Ange couldn't hear them anyway, but you know, he has his uses. Just not ones that are particularly... useful.

"Just... flying! It makes me happy!" Angel was practically singing as she twirled dramatically, her pure-white wings allowing Iggy to see, just for a second, the outlines of the feathers ruffling lightly in the wind. See? I told you I'm getting the hang of English.

Still, Angel's joy was catching: Nudge's sombre and depressed face showed a tight smile, the Gasman was grinning openly, and even the corners of Iggy's mouth were upturned. It _was _a pretty nice day, all sun and blue skies... But I couldn't get our destination out of my head.

"Max!" Angel flew closer to me, brushing her wing against mine, "lighten up! It's going to be fine! It always is, in the end."

Yeah, _in the end. _The beginning and middle parts? Not so great.

"It's gonna be a piece of cake!" Gazzy grinned, making to sneak up on Iggy. A second later, Iggy sent him tumbling through the sky, having heard his wings.

"It is so _not _cool to sneak up on the blind guy!" He shouted after him, a satisfied smirk on his face. Hahahaha. Gazzy's face. Angel caught my eye, giggling.

"Well if the blind guy's got super messed-up hearing..." Gazzy mumbled dejectedly as he flew back up into position, catching an updraft.

"Let it go, Ig!" Nudge laughed, letting her wing brush against his. I don't think any of us missed the resulting blush spreading across Iggy's cheeks.

_Nope. Cute, don'tcha think?_

...I guess. How far away...?

"About three hours, two if we get a good wind," Angel spoke out loud, and just like that we all remembered where we were going. Talk about a downer. Nudge's face fell twenty stories (okay, not literally, but you know what I mean), and I could see she was trying not to cry.

What was up with her? I mean, I get that it's horrible and all, but she's the only one who's crying. Nearly crying. Whatever. Well, maybe she's just feeling... over-emotional. Nudge has a habit of making molehills into mountains. It's just Nudge's way. But I don't think I've ever seen her so depressed.

_Me neither... _

Any thoughts, Ange?

_Of course! But I can't tell you. _

...I hate you sometimes. Now is one of those times.

_Never true!_

Whatever. So Angel's giddy on air, Nudge is depressed for some reason, Iggy's moody as ever, Gazzy's itching to blow something up (I can tell because he keeps shouting out how much ammo we'd need to blow up every building within a ten mile radius. It's funny because if we cared half as much as he thinks we do, we'd still care twice as much as we really do), and me?

Okay, I'll admit that I'm kind of freaking out about the whole School thing. And I still can't figure out how Dr. G-H even found us. I mean, who'd have thought that a bunch of birdkids would be staying at a glass monster like that place? Not me. But then, you know, I am an afore-mentioned birdkid, so maybe I don't really count.

So I'm freaking out. What's new? Well, honestly? There's just a tiny, tiny part of me (somewhere around my knee) that's kind of... excited.

I dunno, maybe it's just I'm itching to kick butt, live a bit again. Maybe I just want to go give those whitecoats a piece of my mind after what they did to us. Maybe I'm aching for closure on the whole School nightmare.

_Maybe you just want to see Fang again._

..I was getting to that Angel. So much for being dramatic. I mean, I practically spent a whole minute building up to that thought, and you just totally wrecked it.

_Sorry. I got bored._

Nice to know. Thanks. Just thanks.

_Shut up and carry on, you sound like Nudge!_

You know what I said about hating you earlier? This is another one of those times.

She rammed into me, knocking me just a little out of position. Do I take that as an answer?

_Yes. Anyway...?_

Where was I again?

_Um... Mushy thoughts about Fang?_

Oh yeah. I don't even know if I _want _to see him again, after the whole heart-breaking incident. Not that it hurt me, or anything. Maximum Ride doesn't let little things like the love of her life leaving her affect her (did I just say 'love of her life'? Oh my God. Forget I ever said that). Max, on the other hand, might get a little... emotional.

_You locked yourself in your room for two days straight and you call that a _little _emotional?_

Yeah, well, in the Princess Diaries Mia had to go to therapy when Michael left her!

_OMG! YOU'VE READ THE PRINCESS DIARIES!_

...No, I haven't. I just... heard it somewhere. From you and Nudge, when you were freaking out about it!

_...You so read it! I'm telling Nudge!_

Fine. I haven't, anyway. I read much more intellectual stuff.

_The Princess Diaries are educational! They teach you how to be a Princess!_

Because you're so gonna be the first birdkid princess of America. Right.

_You never know!_

Oh dear God. Okay, let's forget the Princess Diaires thing, okay?

_Hehehe. For now._

...I worry about you sometimes, you know.

_You never stop worrying!_

So, _anyway. _It's weird, even thinking I might get to see him again. I mean, it's been, what? A month? That's like a year for me. We used to see each other every day. He was my best feathered friend, too.

_He's not an owl, Max. _

Shut. Up. Angel.

_Sorry. _

I forgive you. But I still don't know whether I'm ready to see Fang again.

_Aww..._

Angel.

_...Sorry. _

Good. You should be.

_I am._

Fine.

_Forgive me?_

I looked over at her, and saw she was giving me her dinner plate Bambi eyes. You don't fight fair, Ange.

_I know._

I could practically hear the smirk in her voice. Whatever, Angel.

_You're smiling!_

I don't care. So. I think that's the end of my little thoughts montage. Still, I haven't come to a conclusion yet...

_I have a question..._

Yeah?

_To slap, or not to slap?_

Bursting out laughing, my eyes found Angel, who was grinning ear to ear.

"I'll show you a slap," I shouted over to her, fighting to be heard over the loud wind whipping around us. Hey, we were flying fast. Well, not _fast _fast, but a good 150-200mph. Catching an updraft, I got close enough to Angel to reach out and gently smack her across the back of her head. Then I retreated. Fast.

_You know what you said about hating me sometimes? Straight back at you!_

I laughed again, liking the whole, happy sound. Me and Angel had been arguing in my head for the best part of an hour, and I hadn't noticed how far we'd flown. Which was pretty far. If we kept up the same pace, we'd been there in less than half an hour. Wow.

We'd been flying fast. All of us. Maybe they're learning my power too?

_Ooooh! Another power? _

Just because you hit the jackpot doesn't mean you have to brag, Ange.

_Sorry. Again._

Okay. Forgiven. I hadn't noticed up until now that Iggy was glaring at the back of Nudge's head, tossing that smoking thing from one hand to the other again. I was sure that if he dropped it, it'd be the end of human civilization as we know it. Still, I was just glad it was Iggy that had it, and not Gazzy, because, weird as it sounds, the blind guy is so much less likely to drop it than Gaz.

What was up with him? And Nudge was crying again, this time openly, letting the droplets of water fall freely.

"Iggy," I yelled, "put it away! You want to ruin the world?" He turned to look at me (how does he _do _that? With the whole blind thing, I mean), and very slowly put the... thing in his jeans pocket. Nudge's head snapped up, and she watched him tearfully. Their eyes met, just for a second, until Nudge looked away, biting her lip.

So what went on there, Angel?

_Max! You know I can't tell you. Even Iggy doesn't know I know!_

That you know what?

_I'm not falling for that again._

Okay, fine. What's up with the Gasman, then?

Gazzy had been flying along quietly (which was scary enough for him), just watching the land speeding away below us thoughtfully.

_Oh, he's just worried about the whole School thing. And Fang, and Dylan._

Finally, something normal to be worried about. You thinking what I'm thinking, Angel?

_Of course! When am I not?_

True, true.

We both flew a little closer to Gazzy, retrieving our water bottles as we did.

_3...2...1..._

We both reached over until the water bottles were directly over his head (he hadn't even noticed us. See, this is the sort of the thing that's gonna get him seriously injured one day. This should be like training for him... God, that'd be fun.), and dumped them over him. The water cascaded straight over his head, soaking his hair, t-shirt and wings. He jumped about a mile as me and Angel started laughing together.

"I'M SO GONNA GET YOU BACK FOR THIS!" he started trying to smash into us, and failing epically. And typically for Gazzy. "Charlie's gonna lock you in Candy Mountain!"

It took both me and Angel a minute to work out he meant Charlie the Unicorn, his 'husband'.

_Fiancée._

Same dif, Ange.

"Whatever, Gaz," I grinned, smacking Angel's hand for a high-five. She'd been so... sweet recently. Just like old days, when she really was my baby. My little Angel. Now, I couldn't shake the feeling that she was trying to lull me into a false sense of security, so she could strike when I least expected it. God, who knew any more? We could be on a stupid soap opera, with all the drama we have at the moment. Not that it's any different from normal, but hey.

_Look down._

I looked down, and immediately wished I hadn't. Because directly below us, almost obscured by a heart-shaped cloud, was the one destination I wanted to avoid. We were there. But the real adventure was only just beginning.

It was the School.

**(: Bit of a filler chapter, but hey. I don't really like it, but I figured it was necessary. Thanks again to FANGLOVER for helping me through my writer's block, and for giving me the 'I hate you sometimes' etc line [I used it on her (;]. **

**Review?**


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I'm not James Patterson, therefore I don't own these characters (yet).**

**A/N: Thank you again for the reviews! (: We're nearly at 30, maybe we can reach it with this chapter? (; Hopefully this will make up for that last filler chapter... **

"I'm gonna blow you up-"

"Gaz! Look," Angel pointed down to where the rest of the (slightly more intelligent) flock were gazing, Nudge with an expression of horror, Angel open-mouthed, Iggy bored (as always) and the Gasman looked a bit shocked.

We'd spent our whole lives after our escape avoiding this place as much as we could, and now we'd just spent the best part of two days flying here as fast as we could.

This just screams irony.

"So what now?" Iggy said pointedly after a few moments of silence.

"I'm thinking," I told him, rolling my eyes, "and I'm rolling my eyes, Ig."

"_You're thinking?" _he gasped in mock terror. "That's me out then." He made to fly away, but Nudge grabbed his hand and pulled him back. Again with the blushing.

"Right," I said, finally making sense of my messed-up thoughts (I blame Fang) and snapping into action (before Angel could). "We need to find the main entrance..."

"Check," Angel pointed to a doorway heavily armed with army men. How _do _they get such impressive support? Oh, right. Lying. Of course.

As we watched, a long stream of lorries filed in through it, each driver showing an identity card to the guards as they passed. I wonder what they had in there. More experiments? Maybe some more avian DNA to graft. Well, I'm being self-centred, aren't I? It could always be lion DNA. Whatever.

"So..."

"Let's see if there's a back entrance, or an open window," I decided, my eyes scanning the few barred windows there were. For some reason, it seemed unlikely.

We flew round to the rear end of the building, Iggy on lookout. Okay, so he's blind. He can hear more than we can see any day.

"Nothing," Nudge sighed, disappointed.

She was right: the back end of the building was literally a brick wall. Actually, I think it's probably steel, made to look like bricks.

But we (unfortunately) couldn't go back now. We had to do this.

…

…

…

Um, Voice? Isn't this normally where you kick in?

I swear, if it was real, it'd be laughing. At me.

"Let's go check the other side." Point to me, I sounded like I knew exactly what I was doing.

Flying, scanning... nothing. Of course. Except for a few over-flowing trash cans (ew), the place was deserted.

"So what do we do?" Nudge asked dejectedly, watching a fat man waddle up to the guards, flap a card in the air, then walk regally through.

**The answer is below you Max.**

Bloody hell, heart attack much? Pipe up when I least expect it Voice, why don't you?

...Nothing.

Okay... Angel?

_Um... there's nothing down there except a running track. _

A running track?

_Yeah. _

"Hey, guys, do you see her?" Nudge pointed at the deserted running track.

"Not really," Iggy deadpanned, pretending to look down.

"No," I ignored him, "there's no one there, Nudge." She frowned, and dipped a little in the air to look closer.

"Look!" Nudge gestured again, this time with added vigour. Again, we looked. And again...

nothing.

"Nudge, sweetie, there's nothing there," I told her as gently as I could, "come back or they'll see you."

Nodding, she gave the girl one last glance, then flew back up to me.

"She had black hair, and grey wings," Nudge was telling Angel emphatically, her voice a loud shriek.

"Nudge! Shh," I put a finger to my lips childishly, and Gazzy snorted a little.

"I wanna go see her..." Angel said, sounding strangely detatched.

Oh _holy crap _(ew. Don't imagine that.) Really? This _again?_

"No."

"Bu-"

"No questions."

"It was-"

"Just no."

"Ple-"

"Nu-uh."

"_Ugh._"

And that's the end of that.

Then Angel dived down, tucking her wings behind her for extra speed.

...I'm an idiot.

Nudge opened her mouth to scream, but Iggy managed to clap his hand over her mouth, sensing what she was about to do. Gazzy looked like he was about to dive straight after his sister, and me? I was just staring open-mouthed after the kid who was seriously driving me insane.

Okay.

She goes swimming 100ft underwater with killer squid around after I profusely told her not to? I can deal. She decides it'd be cool to jump off the Eiffel tower with her wings pulled behind her so she dropped like a stone, before swooping up at the last second. I can scream at her afterwards, but not too bad. She thinks it'd be awesome to fly directly in front of a man with a gun and scare the hell outta him. Okay, not one of her best moments, but... I guess I can get over it.

But _this? _

Well, this freaking takes the prize for the stupidest, most Flock-endangering, Max-infuriating thing she's ever done.

Was she planning this all along? Was Nudge in it?

Thinking this, I glanced over at her, but her expression of horror looked genuine. _Looked _genuine. I glanced down just as Angel hit the ground; her large grin was visible even from her. Her head whipped round, looking for this mysterious girl, then she started running, half flying, towards something.

Then she was caught.

It was horrible. A huge net was thrown on top of her, immediately disabling her wings and tripping her. She fell with a thud, and then the whitecoat gave a chuckle and threw her over his shoulder like she was a bag of meat.

I'm not Angel's biggest fan right now – hell, I'm never Ange's biggest fan, even when she's being sweet (that honour belongs to Hayley Williams, thank you very much). But she's part of the flock: she always has been, and if she doesn't get herself killed (which, I hate to say, is likely), then she always will be.

And I protect my flock.

Even when they're idiots. Which, you know, is always, but you know, that's not important.

Hey... Angel, can you hear me?

_M... Ma... M... Max!_

It was like a faulty radio signal but it was enough. Just about.

Angel? Can you throw his card out?

_I... I th-... think... s...s...s...so..._

Did I mention I hate bad radio signals? Ugh.

We watched as Angel wiggled around a lot in the net; it was too far for anyone but Nudge to see, even with our amazing eye-sight. She gave Iggy a running commentary, and, though we lied about it, me and Gazzy listened in too.

_GGGG...Got... _

Angel's voice flickered in and out of my head. Headache time.

Something small, white and rectangular landed with a clatter only audible to Iggy below us, just before Angel disappeared into the building.

Nice aim, Ange. Think you can tell us where you're going? So we can come save your sorry feathery butt?

_I think so..._

Hey, how come I can hear you okay?

_I think there's radio signals coming from this place, to contact other Schools kinda like this one? But it amplifies my power..._

Amplifies... How many syllables is that?

_Um... 3?_

Oh, that's alright. I'm still winning then.

_Huh?_

Never mind. Just somethin'. Anyway. Are you okay?

_Y-yes._

You're stuttering in your thoughts, Ange.

_I can see... needles... it's like a big white kitchen with loads of doors leading off of it..._

Keep calm, it's gonna be fine, okay? What's happening? I'm giving the flock a commentary, by the way.

_H-he's picked up a needle, I'm on the table. Max! NO! He's... he's... st-_

Angel? Crap, _Angel?_

Nothing.

"She's out cold," I struggled to keep the fear from my voice. Not that I was scared or anything, I was just a bit... scared.

"Is... is she okay?" Gazzy stuttered out the words, his eyes still on the door Angel had disappeared behind.

"I don't know," I told him, "but I do know we're going to go kick some whitecoat butt and help her out. You in?"

We stacked fists, all of us determined. Then we realised we didn't have a clue what we were going to do.

"Maybe we could wait until night," Iggy suggested.

"But there might be _more _guards then," Nudge bit her lip. "And the only entrance is the front one..."

"Wait, what? Hold up." Yes brain! I knew you'd be of use some day. "The only entrance is the front one?"

"Yeah, remember, we only saw that one," Nudge explained.

"Well, technically, I didn't _see _anything," Iggy said unhelpfully. He was hit.

"But... how did Angel get in then?" Gazzy stole my moment. "She came in back here..."

"Nudge, can you see anything down by that wall?" I pointed down to where Angel had gone through. Just a minute, there'd been a door down there. Now? Nothing but a wall.

I wonder if they were trying to make us go insane?

"There's a sort of... metal-looking thing, like a plaque," Nudge said slowly (it was a first), squinting to see. "With a red light?"

"Infra-red?" Iggy asked, suddenly interested. Gazzy's head snapped up, too.

"I dunno," Nudge said usefully.

I gave Gazzy my best tell-me-now-or-I'll-kill-you-later look, and he shrugged, holding his hands up as in surrender.

"It was what Ig and Fang were studying back in Virginia," he explained, "they told me because I was doing finger-painting." he scowled deeply at the memory.

"Yeah, it's like an identification kind of thing," Iggy added, "it's what they use for bar-codes and stuff."

"Like... ID cards?"

"I guess. Yeah, that'd work."

Me and Nudge exchanged a look. At first it was purely 'God, boys,' the universal look every girl understands, and then it was just victory.

"Well... we've found in our way in then," I grinned, thinking of revenge and revenge alone, "let's go kick some butt."

"And save Dylan and Angel!" Nudge chimed in.

"Yeah, that too."

In my head, I added another name to the list: _Fang._

**A/N: Okay, so I hated that to begin with. But I guess it's growing on me somewhat. Meh. -.- So what do you guys say to Angel's POV in the next chapter? (: **

**R&R?**


	9. Chapter 8

**Fang's POV**

There were heavy footsteps from outside the door, echoed with light, fluttering ones. My ears have gotten better: it's the only thing I can do, locked in her. The bars in this are pretty close-fitted.

If I ever manage to blow this joint, me and Iggy are so having a hear-off. I'm going to pwn him. Like the time Lisa pwned Principal Skinner. Yeah, that episode. Just like that.

"Get in there, you bloody mongrel," the whitecoat snarled as he pushed the door open, throwing a blonde-haired girl into the kennel next to mine.

"I prefer Avian American, really," she told him, rolling her eyes best as she could at me through the bars. She was exhausted, though. She'd been running laps for the third time this week. Running laps sucks. Like, a lot. Like when Max eats the last choc-chip cookie. I didn't talk to her for three days straight.

The scientist slapped her once before slamming the door shut, locking it, and storming out. Wonder why he was in such a bad mood. He was rivalling Nudge that time Gazzy set her skirt on fire. That wasn't funny (it was).

"Just because I told him white wasn't exactly slimming," the girl grumbled, leaning against the back of her crate for support.

She was another captured bird kid, one of us, but she had been on her own. I couldn't figure out how she'd done it: I didn't socialise much, but without the flock, I wouldn't have survived. Or I'd have gone mute. Whichever came first. The girl's name was Sara; she was fourteen, like me, Max and Ig. She was... nice. You know? The same sort of nice as lukewarm bath water. She reminded me of Max, in some ways: she spoke her mind all the time, and she was fierce. Sort of tomboy. But sometimes, she reminded me of Nudge too, in her over-expressive speeches, and her excessive knowledge of clothes (I knew everything I never wanted to know about fashion. Anyone want to know what Lady GaGa _really _looks like, when she's not in the dresses? Yeah, me neither). In ways, though, she wasn't really like Max; she was more open, less guarded. And a bit softer, in the way she spoke. Fierce, but she was still a girl.

Which was sometimes easy to forget about Max.

The thing about Max, though, is that I love her. And I'd do anything to protect her, even if meant leaving her. Well, crap, that was corny. I'm practically quoting Edward Cullen. Another thing about Sara? She's a freaking twi-hard (I prefer twerd: twilight nerd, but she doesn't approve), and everything I do? It's analysed. And then somehow related to Twilight.

Edward Cullen, if you're out there, I hate you. And dude? You're kind of creepy. Go hit on Janey Cutler or some other eighty year-old. Or Susan Boyle. Whatever floats your boat. As long as they're over fifty (or look it).

"They should so make black lab coats," Sara continued, her eyes lighting up as they always did when she was thinking about fashion, "I could totally design them! They'd be awesome, _right Fang?" _

Gulp time. Whenever she said '_right Fang_?' it meant I had to nod and say yes, or face the consequences. And believe me, the consequences can be pretty dire. Last time, it was about how much men suck, and girls rule. Seriously.

"Yeah," I agreed blandly. Charmer, me.

"I only did two hundred and eighty-three laps today," she said, sounding dejected. I glanced over at her, but her expression was shrouded in shadow (wow, when did I get descriptive? I amaze myself, honestly). "Sixty less than yesterday."

Sometimes I don't get Sara. I mean, two eighty laps in an hour? The girl got stamina (you know what I said about being descriptive and crap? Forget it). If I had to do it, I swear, I'd only manage to do half of what she manages. Thank God they get me to smash boards. Actually, that's not as cool as it sounds. Yeah, us bird kids are strong and all, but our skin breaks, and my knuckles were all scabby and stuff.

See, I bet Edward Cullen didn't have to deal with this.

...I think I may be going delirious.

"That's not so bad," I offered Sara, once I realised she was waiting for a reply. She shrugged sadly.

"They shocked me..." Checking her arms, I saw burn marks too: Sara always played down her injuries, another thing that reminded me of Max. She was always smiling, even when her cheeriness was as fake as Lindsay Lohan's breasts.

"You okay?" I'm brilliant with words. Uh, not.

"I guess," she smiled again, trying to hide her fatigue. "I think they said something about you freezing... or something..." She was beginning to nod off as we... well, she spoke, she was that tired.

"Goodnight, Sara..." I said softly as her eyes fluttered once, twice, then closed. Her breathing slowed until it was a steady, quiet rhythm. It was kind of... soothing, in a way.

I hated the School with every fibre of my being, hated the people who inhabited it, hated what they did, hated what they stood for... I hated the building itself, and, if in my dying breaths I managed to set it alight, I'd be happy.

Well, that and if Max kissed me one last time. Passionately, and- I'm going to stop that thought right there.

Hang on, did Sara say something about freezing? See, that's how long things take to register in my brain. A while (obviously). I hated the freezing experiment: they locked us in a room with a metal floor, metal walls, metal ceiling, metal door... it would've been easier to say a metal room, wouldn't it? I told you I'm not good with words. Cut me some slack, yo. And don't ask me where the yo came from. Hey, all badasses say yo at the end of everything. Does that make me badass? Probably not, because I just had to ask you that.

Anyway (did I mention I get distracted easily?). They locked us in a metal room (I'm learning!), and steadily lowered the temperature to see how long we could endure before really shivering, and being close to crying out (and, with Sara being... well, Sara, and me being such a badass, we don't readily call out. Ever). Then they let us out. Aren't they nice to us? Uh, not.

Sara had it worse though; she ran, as fast as she could, non-stop around a track, every day, for as many hours as the whitecoats felt like torturing her. If she ever stopped, or so much slowed? They shocked her. Or, apparently, burned her.

Told you she was tough. Any of us lot would've complained something chronic (I am, of course, thinking of Gazzy and... well, more Iggy), but Sara? She was something else.

They kept us in the dark a lot, too. Not literally, of course, it was like they dumped freaking sparkling snow or something in here. But, as in, we knew nothing of the outside world. It was like me and Sara were in limbo, or something. Like time was suspended, and this was all some really, really bad nightmare. I never even got to see the sun, feel it warming my back, strengthening my wings... damn, I'm poetic sometimes. I really need to try this on Max sometime. If I ever see her again.

Maybe this was how I was meant to die. Man, how ironic would that be?

Pretty ironic, that's how much.

…Wait, that didn't make sense, did it?

Still. I think that another bird kid was dropped off the other day. With my new super-awesome-amazing-sugar-free hearing, I heard scrambling, swearing, and shoving. Signs of a bird kid, no doubt about it.

Crap. I hear footsteps. Sigh. They're coming for me, to lock me in the room of doom. Hey, that rhymed. I'm a poet and I didn't know it. Well, I do now, but that's not important.

I don't want to go. I hate it here. But I'm not about to complain. I'm Fang, right? I'm practically _known _for not complaining. Because, as stated before, I'm just that badass.

Even when they manhandle me out, I won't murder. Even when Sara looks up at me, all scared for me, I won't scream. Even when they throw me in the air, too forcefully to allow me to open my wings fully, I won't freak.

Because I am a badass.

I just gave a whole action sort of sequence in prose. I'm just that bad— cool.

Still, they hadn't blinded me – yet. And, as they dragged (I prefer accompanied) me down the corridor, I saw another whitecoat, with a net strung over his shoulder. It was one of those sort of stringy nets you can imagine Jack Sparrow using. And if _Captain _Jack Sparrow, the captain of badassness, uses one, then you can bet your life it's a pretty awesome net.

In fact, I was so busy admiring this net's badassness and hoping that one day I could be as cool as it, I didn't notice the unconscious kid inside it for a moment. It was a certain, blonde-haired, evil bird kid, with pure-white wings. She looked almost _angelic, _even in her slumber-heavy state.

You guessed it: Angel.

And by the time I realised who it was? I was already beginning to feel a little chilly. And it was already too late for me to do anything.

In Max's words: well, _crap._

**A/N: Hehehe, well, there you go. Fang (: It didn't really advance much, but it introduced my OC, showed you Fang's (rather disturbing) head, and it gave you your little fix of Fang-ness. Did you like it? I hope I got his characterisation okay. And... _2 chapters in one day! _=D I feel accomplished. **

**R&R?**


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: If you think I'm James Patterson, I recommend a visit to your nearest mental home. (: **

**A/N: So I forgot a couple of things last chapter. One: the disclaimer. Just read above. (; And second, thank you guys for all your reviews. All those review alerts in my inbox make my day [sad. But I'm not kidding -.-]. So seriously, thank you! (: **

**Max POV **

It was late, now. Like dark late. Like time to get our bird kid butts in gear and rescue Angel and Dylan. I refuse to let myself add Fang to the list any more, because truth is?

I give up.

Seriously. That boy drove me round the bend even when he wasn't here. I guess that's one of the reasons I love him, but sometimes, I wish he'd get the hell outta my head.

Just like another _particularly _annoying bird kid I could mention...

…

Oh. I forgot. She's gone.

"Is it weird to say it's peaceful without Angel in my mind?" I asked out loud, more to myself than the flock. Gazzy looked at me weirdly.

"How does Angel fit in your mind?"

Oh dear God. And I'd thought Iggy was the stupid one. Actually, that's a lie: it'd been me, him and Fang who'd scored low on those (pointless) entrance tests back in Virginia.

Well, we thought it'd been one of us who was still thinking like a four year-old.

Turns out we were wrong.

Stupid, stupid Gazzy. Makes us laugh, though.

"Yeah, it does," Iggy answered my question from earlier, "but it's the same for all of us, with Ange. So what we gonna do? It's late. We need that card."

He was weirdly calm and focused, which is seriously unheard of with Ig. Normally all his mind could process was food, girls, and more food. Maybe it was something to do with uncharacteristically silent Nudge. She was moping about, eyes raking the building restlessly.

"Yeah," I glanced at Gazzy to make sure he wasn't blowing anything up (he wasn't, he was just looking at the building like he _wanted _to blow it up... which okay, is fair enough), "hey, there's gotta be some kind of metal in it, right? For the sensors to recognise it?"

"Not necessarily," Nudge said gloomily.

"Well..." I'm trying. Seriously. But could the flock (or what was left of it, at least) be any more spirit-dampening? "There could be, and it's worth a try, right?"

"What's worth a try?" Gaz piped up, looking at me curiously with his big blue eyes that, now I noticed it, were almost identical to Angel's. I don't know why I noticed that, because it is of absolutely no use whatsoever and... I'm going to shut up now.

In my head, at least.

"Nudge using her Jedi powers on the card," I explained.

"That doesn't work-" Iggy started.

"The magnetic thing?" Nudge cut in, eyes brightening for the first time in a while. I nodded. "Oh. Okay. But I don't think they'll reach, they're kind of weak..."

As she spoke, she unfurled her fingers, stretching them towards the card. I shivered: it looked a little like she was trying to grab someone's hand... eurgh.

We waited, and it was like the moment before they announce the winner on a talent show (can I just say that I absolutely freakin' hate the build-up?).

And, of course, nothing happened.

A-n-t-i-c-l-i-m-a-t-i-c.

"Hey," Iggy called Nudge, then chucked that smoking thing at her (what was with Ig and things that smoke/explode/burn/set fire/somehow cause damage to everything that doesn't belong to him?). "Try now."

Nudge looked at Iggy, then glanced at the thing in her hands, then at Iggy again.

"What does it do?" she asked, holding it at least a mile away from her body warily. She was probably worried it'd scorch a hole in her Peninsula t-shirt or something, knowing Nudge.

"Just try," Iggy said, sounding both impatient and just a little bit annoyed. I say a little bit; I mean very, very annoyed. Nudge gazed at him for a second, her expression unreadable, then sighed and reached out with her left hand again, holding it just above the card.

Her face was all screwed up in concentration (not a good look for her, I have to say, and that's coming from the fashion retard) and both mine and Gazzy's eyes were locked on the card that hadn't moved a millimetre.

Then, so quickly we didn't even see it, it was in Nudge's hand, and she was grinning from ear to ear. God help us if they ever make Erasers magnetic with this kid around. Actually, I'll have to remember that... not a half bad technique.

"I knew it," Iggy grinned, all irritation forgotten. Nudge threw his smoke thing back at him and he caught it easily. She rubbed her free hand against her jeans, as if it was contaminated (with Iggy, it's always good to be cautious. You haven't seen the kid's complete lack of self-hygiene.)

"Charlie would be proud!" Gazzy clapped Nudge on the back in a strangely mature (God help me if I just put 'Gazzy' and 'mature' in the same sentence) gesture, obviously giving her the highest compliment he could think of. Which, because he was Gazzy, wasn't really a compliment at all.

"He doesn't exist," Nudge rolled her eyes, still looking at the card as if it was about to explode. Maybe she was mistaking it for Iggy's ball of imminent death (I don't want to find out if that name's going to stick).

"Shun the non-believer!" Gazzy lisped, folding his arms and looking away. You know what I said about him being oddly mature? Yeah, forget it.

"Right," time to take charge, "we need to get going. The quicker we get in, the quicker we get out. Can anyone see any guards?" Nudge handed me the card, and I scanned it quickly.

Apparently the four of us were going to pretend to be Toby Smith, and we were working as a 'outer sanctum' guard. WTF?

"All clear," Gazzy said, giving me a salute. I stupidly looked at Iggy, who, feeling my gaze, shrugged.

"Don't look at me," he said, and I swear he would've rolled his eyes if he could.

"On five then," I said, just to confuse anyone who might be listening. Of course I meant on three, but if I just said that then it would suck the fun right of it, wouldn't it? Keep up yo.

"Wait," Nudge called, just as I was about to start my countdown. "I see something... Over there, by the door!" She pointed to an empty space. What was with her and seeing non-existent people today?

"Nudge, there's no one there."

"_Again,_" Gazzy stressed. Nudge looked at us, smoothed her t-shirt down, then narrowed her eyes.

Uh-oh. We woke killer Nudge. Otherwise known as the Hudge (get it? Hulk... Nudge... I amuse myself sometimes).

"I'll _prove _it then," she said, glaring at all three of us, even though it was lost on Gazzy.

"Nudge-" I started, but Gazzy cut in cheerfully.

"Don't break a nail, we can't deal with the consequences!" Nudge's eyes narrowed to small slits before she flew off at full speed, barrelling towards her imaginary friend.

I am going to freaking _kill _Gazzy. No joke.

Throwing the Gasman my you-will-die-at-my-hand glare, I took off after Nudge at full speed, going from 0mph to 200mph in a matter of seconds. Flying smack-bang into her, we both dropped a few inches before getting back in control of our wings and climbing back up.

"Nudge...you...idiot," I panted, working my way into another of my prepare-to-die glares. She looked at me for a second, breathing hard, then glanced down and grinned.

"Look!"

I looked.

And guess what?

If you guessed that there was a fat man eating a pie, you're wrong. If you guessed that there was a fat _guard _eating a pie, then you're right.

"Okay, maybe you were right," I muttered as Gaz and Ig zoomed up to us, managing not to smash into us.

"Did you just admit you were wrong?" Ig asked, his mouth dropping in mock surprise. At least I hope it was mock surprise.

"So were you," I pointed out.

"And that matters because...?"

Were we really fighting at a time like this?

Why yes, yes we were.

"Because you should apologise to Nudge too."

"Technically you didn't apologise, you just said she was right."

"So you do that too... before I kill you."

"I don't have to," he folded his arms, grinning.

"And why would that be?"

"Because I'm a boy."

_Sexist pig! _I was about to rip his throat out (not really. I mean, ew), when Nudge flew in between us, to an amused Gazzy's annoyance. Have I already said I'm going to kill him? Yeah well, now I'm going to make it hurt twice as much.

"Shut _up _you guys Angel and Dylan are in trouble and they need us like now and you're fighting and wasting time and we need to go in and get them before they die or they get experimented on or... or..." she trailed off, running out of steam. Iggy slung an arm around her shoulders, looking faintly amused.

"Deep breaths," he advised her. She elbowed him, but she was smiling, just a little.

"Nudge, sweetie, we're going to do this, right now. Good enough?" She nodded, her expression serious again. "Guys?" Gazzy and Iggy, who had been debating how explosive Total would be if used with various explosives (I vowed to keep Total as far away from them as possible if we ever returned to normality), snapped to attention at exactly the same time. "I'll drop kick, you land. 'Kay?"

They nodded, and we positioned ourselves so they were gathered round me, and I was in the middle, hovering right over the oblivious guard's head. Stacking our fists, we grinned at one another briefly.

"5...4...3..." I positioned myself just right, then tucked my wings behind me. The flock mimicked me, and we dropped like stones. There were a few seconds of free-fall before I landed directly on the guard's head. My foot smacked straight into his head and he crumpled beneath me instantly. I hopped off of him and put a finger to his neck, checking his pulse. Hey, I'm no murderer. For the most part, anyway.

"He's good," I said, more to myself than the others. I straightened up. Inspiring speech time, all gather round. "Guys, we stick together, okay? We're not doing any wrecking mission, we're just gonna grab Angel and Dylan, then we're getting the hell outta this hell-hole, get it? Got it? Go— Ig, drop the pie." Iggy dropped the guard's pie guiltily, and Gazzy laughed. Nudge stood to the side, her smile strained.

"Got it, Miss," Iggy said, raising his hand in a salute. I smacked his arm.

"Shut up," I rolled my eyes at him, not bothering to tell him, then scanned the card against the small metal circle next to the slumped guard. The door sprang open, and I stepped inside, followed by Nudge, then Ig, then Gazzy.

"And guys?" I stopped just before we entered the circular hub of the place. They looked at me questioningly. "The more butt we kick, the better. Ig, hear anything?" He stayed still for a second, listening intently. See why the blind guy's the most useful out all of us? Ig belongs to us though, so hands off.

That sounded wrong.

"Nope," he said finally. "All of the action's over in the opposite side of the building."

"Okay, good," I nodded, trying to hide the fact that I didn't have a clue where the hell we were going.

Angel?

Please?

Angel!

ANGEL.

**ANGEL!**

_M...Max? _

Finally. Her thought was way too weak though, only like a tenth of how strong it used to be. What happened to you?

_...Injection... _

Oh. Anaesthetic?

_Pure..._

Damn. How are you awake?

_You shouted... me. _

Oh, I get it. You're unconscious, but your mind's still awake?

_...Not really. _

Well, there or there about. We're in. Where do we go?

_First door... on the left. _

"Follow me," I whispered to the flock, just in case anyone could here. I crept over to the afore-mentioned door and pushed it open cautiously. Don't look so surprised, I can be careful sometimes.

We tiptoed (...shut up) into a small room with a table in the middle of it, displaying different sized syringes. My stomach started hurling almost immediately, but luckily there was only one other door in the room, save for the one we'd entered through, so we hurried out of there as quickly as our feathered feet (not literally... eww) could carry us.

We're in the kitchen place Ange. Where now?

_I... don't know..._

Oh right. You were injected. Okay. Stay awake Ange, we might need you in a bit. It's gonna be okay sweetie.

Okay. So... time to wing it, I guess (no pun intended).

"Max?" Nudge tapped my shoulder, and I turned to her. "There's, like, tiny signs on these doors... I think they must, like, use a magnifying glass, or something."

"You sure?" Hey, I was sceptical.

"Totally! Um, this one says... staff room." Oh, the irony. I nodded, and she started listing the labels on each of the doors. "And... oh! Max! Experiments!"

Well, it's our best shot for now.

_Max... hurry... _

**A/N: I officially hate this chapter, so I won't be offended if you do too. -.- Dylan's POV next chapter methinks (: Brighten my day? **

**Review (:**


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Nah, I'm not cool enough to be JP. **

**A/N: I'm not surprised by the lack of response for that last chapter, it sucked. But thank you to the people who did (: Couple of bad swear-words in this one. Just a heads-up, since I'm not normally one to over-use them. (: Hopefully, this chapter won't be as bad, but who knows?**

Angel's POV [**A/N: Sorry, haters -.-]**

It was hard to see where the man had left me. More like thrown, but that sounds kind of mean. This crate was much bigger than any of the others I'd ever been in... It couldn't have been meant for me, so they couldn't have known we were coming... but then, they would have to know now, wouldn't they? Max said Iggy had checked it all out with his super-awesome (as Nudge says) ears, so it must be okay. We all trust Iggy.

_Angel, we've been seen. We took care of them, but Ig reckons they know exactly what we're doing now. _

You'll have to be really quick then... I think I'm on my own in here, but...

_It's okay sweetie, we'll be there as soon as we can... Let me know if you see or hear anything, 'kay? _

'Kay!

Max is like my big sister, always looking out for me. She used to trust me. I used to be the one she loved the most, even more than Fang, though I know that their love is different, 'cos they're totally made for each other. Now, she doesn't trust me any more. Her thoughts about me are all 'she's evil', or all cautious about me knowing the plans... Still, she looks out for me. Because she still loves me. I have to look out for her too, as much as I can.

Immediately, I started to search for people's thoughts. Max, Iggy and Nudge's thoughts were the first to register, but I brushed past them, reaching out further. If I could only reach Fang... or Dylan...

As soon as I tried to reach past the flock, I hit a wall. I could hear nothing, and my head started to ache as if I'd slammed it into a concrete wall (I blame Gazzy!).

What? I'd always been able to read minds! Control them, manipulate them...

Oh, no.

What if they'd taken my power away?

No, they couldn't have, seeing as I could still hear Max, and everyone.

Hey, who's that?

_Black buttons on the right, with extra padding inside-_

Um... hello?

_Holy crap! What the hell?_

Umm... hi. I'm Angel and I'm seven years old.

_...Okaaaay. I'm hearing voices now. Oh Fang's gonna **love **this._

No, no! I read minds... I'm a bird kid... please don't tell me you're a scientist?

_Ha! As if, I'm an Avian American through and through! I'm Sara, and I'm fifteen. _

Hi! Um... so you're stuck here too?

_Yeah, I guess. Sucks, huh? Must be worse for you though, seeing as you're only seven... and now they're immune to our powers..._

Huh? Immune?

_Oh, of course, you won't know! See, they've invented this new sort of injection, kind of like a shot thing, and it means they're completely protected against our... uh... enhanced abilities! (: It sucks though, 'cos otherwise I'd be long out of here._

Oh! So that's why I couldn't read their minds! But... bird kids aren't immune?

_Nope. Some rooms are, though. Like this new gas thing they've been implementing. Only a few rooms are done at the moment, but it's their main project right now, seeing as we're apparently here for a long stay. _

Which is why I can't reach Dylan, or Fang! I think so, at least. Don't worry, though, my flock are gonna bust us all out, once they find us anyways, which, knowing them, could be a while. I know they wouldn't leave me here, though! What's your power?

_Hey, Fang? You know Fang?_

Yeah! He's here? Really? He's definitely here? Oh!

_Yeah, he was like right next to me about an hour ago, before they took him. So you're **the **Angel? And it's Max who's coming, right?_

Fang talks about us?

_Whenever he does talk, which is hardly ever, it's about you guys. He misses you so much, you know. But he's so freaking stubborn, he refuses to do anything that might make everyone happy if it puts you in danger. Idiot._

My thoughts exactly! Well, more Max's. I just miss him, really. How long have you been here?

_Me? All my life. I never met you, though. They kept me in quarantine, all chained up and that. Fang's been here a couple of weeks, I think. _

Awww... I can't wait to see him again... I hope... he's like my big brother!

_Aw. Yeah, Fang's pretty awesome. _

He's amazing! Um... have you seen any other bird kids?

_No. Heard them, but I ain't seen no one. _

You're as bad as Max; that's a double negative! We're here for another bird kid, too, he's called Dylan. He's Max's biological perfect match, but she loves Fang more.

_Biological perfect match? _

Oh. He's been engineered so he's all Max wants in a guy, her one match. But, that's all biology, all technological stuff! With Fang' they're like soul mates; you should hear their thoughts!

_Uh... cool. I guess! _

Yeah, they're gonna get married one day and have kids and a dog and-

_Angel! And Fang said Nudge was the chatterbox!  
_

Well... sometimes I get carried away! Oh, I better talk to Max...

_Sure. You know where I am._

Thanks for cheering me up, Sara!

_Right back 'atcha, kiddo. _

Max's POV

Well. This sucked.

We were pretty much lost in this great big web of corridors and rooms, in the place we hated the most, and I had a feeling that the spider was preparing to crush us. Not literally, of course, I don't think the guy behind this sick place is a spider, because... okay, I refuse to explain this because if you don't understand, then you're an idiot. Or Gazzy.

_Max! _

Yo, Ange. 'Sup?

_Are you having a chav moment?_

Yup. Anyway. What's up sweetie?

_There's another bird kid here! She's called Sara, and she knows Fang and he's here! Oh, and all the whitecoats are immune to our powers! So Iggy won't be able to hear them, or anything!_

Hey, hey, hey... hold up... Fang's here? Slow down, heart.

_Yeah! But he's doing experiments, so I don't know where he is... I don't even know where Sara is... _

Okay. I'm gonna freak out about that _after _this conversation, I think. How do you know they're immune? And Iggy's hearing's a power?

_Sara overheard some whitecoats talking about the effectiveness of the injection! And of course Iggy's hearing's a power! How could you not know? Oh, and you're totally freaking out. You're just not showing it. :) _

Shut up about the Fang thing.

_You're so blushing! Aww, you two are so cute! Anyway, ask Ig! He knows it too!_

Well, if it makes you happy, Ange.

"Ig?" I whispered, my eyes on the door. Hey, they don't call me paranoid for nothing you know.

"Max?" he replied, in a typically ridiculous high-pitched voice.

"I'm rolling my eyes, Ig," I said, doing just as I'd said, "is your hearing your power?" Both Nudge and Gazzy turned to look at me like I was an idiot. Which I'm not. I'm just intellectually challenged sometimes. There's a difference. Swear.

"Duh."

"How could you not know?" Nudge echoed Angel's words (thoughts?).

"I... I knew! I was just... confirming it." Believable... not.

"...Okay..."

I quickly explained to the flock the whole ix-nay on the powers thing, and they groaned, but got over it quickly.

Well. I say that. I'm not going to correct myself... because Gazzy's reaction was disgusting and not funny in the slightest no matter how much he giggles.

Nudge gently pushed past me to open the door which I'd been leaning on (I'm tired. Get over it.)

There was a loud gunshot, and Nudge recoiled immediately, hot sticky blood rolling down her wing. Iggy rushed to her, fingers probing the wound gently to find the bullet. Gazzy hugged her tight as she started to cry, unlike Nudge. Nudge is _tough. _I'm serious. When it comes to being normal, yeah, she's weak, because it hurts her and all, but when it comes down to battle? That girl doesn't cry.

...They just made her cry.

They _freaking made her cry._

And that's when I snapped (Not literally.)

I am so fucking (excuse my French, if you would) sick of these guys. First off, they make the love of my life leave me through my 'perfect match', then they kidnap afore-mentioned perfect match along with the boyfriend that abandoned, lock my baby away, and, just to top it off, they make Nudge cry.

And you know what?

That's just not on. Not. On.

'Cos if you mess with my flock, _my family, _you damn well mess with me too. And if you mess with me, you die. Pretty much. Truth is, you just don't stand a chance against an angry Max. Hell, you don't stand a chance against me whatever mood I'm in, but if I'm angry? Leave the country. Even better, go live on the moon. I'll get you one day, but I might laugh and make it as painless as possible if you make your escape plans creative.

_Go show 'em who's boss, Max! I love you!_

Love you too, Ange, for the most part. I'm gonna send Gazzy for you, okay?

_I'll watch out for him! Please don't get yourself into stupid situations, Max, for all of us. We can't deal without you!_

You've already proved you can. I'm going in, sweetie.

"Gaz? Go find Angel, and Sara. I've got a feeling our search for Fang and Dylan's going to end somewhere in there," he nodded and scurried off. Iggy looked up from where he was wrapping a piece of his ripped shirt over Nudge's wing.

Aw. Ig had a heart! I'm kidding, you know I love him (in a brotherly way, of course.)

"We got your back, Max," he smiled grimly at me, and Nudge stood, wincing slightly as her wing shook with the movement, but she nodded too.

"No _way_, Nudge, you're already-"

"No! Max, I have to come with you," she interrupted me, "I've got this gut feeling that I need to be in there! You and Iggy can't do it alone! Please, Max. I'll be fine! I'll be careful! I promise!" I raised my eyebrows, and was just to tell her exactly how still she was going to stay when Iggy spoke up.

"She'll be fine, Max, I got her. I _always _got her," he said, finishing with an almost sweet smile. Aww. No time like just before you pretty much walk into a death wish for admitting your feelings. Nudge looked up at him through her eyelashes, and they moved very slowly closer, and I was just getting my phone out to take a picture of their lip-lock to prove to Fang when Nudge shook her head like a wet dog, and literally jumped away from him. Huh?

"Let's go," she said, way too quickly and shakily for comfort. Iggy sort of stumbled backwards a couple of steps, then frowned darkly.

I glanced between them, but this was so not the time for teenage hormones.

So, ignoring both of them, Nudge shaky and Iggy moody, I took a deep breath, thrust the door open and dodged quickly out of the way of the bullet... that never came. Hmm?

Experimentally, I poked my head around the door, almost certain I was going to get a bullet through the head but doing it anyway (I don't make good decisions sometimes, alright? Now forget I ever said that and we'll be on our different ways). Nothing happened, though, and all I saw was yet another white room, 'cept this time, there was only one person stood in the middle, regarding me thoughtfully.

Not twenty burly security guards ready to wring our necks. Not another creepily deserted room.

Just Jeb.

And you know what?

If I was freaking angry before... you wouldn't believe how livid I am right now. All my blood began to boil, rushing straight to my head in a painful flush, my sight becoming cloaked in red. All I could see, wherever I looked, was betrayal. Deep, hurtful betrayal. The only thing that stopped me rushing straight at Jeb and wiping the smug look off of his face for once and all, was the black gun pointed straight at my head, his index finger playing with the trigger.

"Oh my God," I heard Nudge breathe behind me. I flicked a swift glance at her, not wanting to look away from Jeb and be seen in weak, and saw her deep chocolate were filled with hurt, welling up with tears for the second time today.

Okay. I was angry. No, I wasn't angry: I was freaking livid, absolutely murderous, rage coating everything I saw (see, it even makes me good at English, which is a miracle in itself.) But then I wasn't the one who'd been knowingly shot by the only guy we'd ever seen as a dad.

The only adult, besides my mum, that'd ever shown us any love. It's pretty obvious I can't stand him whatsoever, and that's because he hurt me, and not physically. I can deal with physical pain: it's just a message, and I check my messages later; never. But mental pain? Not so easy.

Jeb'd hurt us all. I dealt with it with resentment, as did Fang (as far as I knew), and Iggy. Nudge, Gazzy and Angel missed him, though, no matter what they said. And, you know, I understand that, because when you're little you feel like everything's going to last forever, and even for them, who'd been through more in their first years of life than an average adult had to endure throughout a lifetime, that still applied.

He was the one who'd given them a real life, flying free, and not seemingly endless hours viewing life through small slats in a dog kennel. The one who'd woken them up to sausages and bacon instead of slaps and shocks. He told them he loved them no matter who they were, and for them that was unforgettable, because they knew nothing else.

We'd trusted him, lived with him for years swallowing every word he threw at us. Loved him, even. Put our faith in him, so much faith.

And now he's just thrown it away.

**A/N: Cliffyyyy. Sorry. But it was a longer one, mainly because I've had a crappy day and I feel awful, and writing was my only escape today. But I liked that chapter. I think I write deep emotions better than most things? (: I hoped you enjoyed it, and it explained some things for you. Next chapter will be... interesting. (: If you feel like cheering me up and putting a smile back on my face...**

**Review. **


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Ix-nay on the JP thing. **

**A/N: (: Thank you for your reviews, especially those of you who told me to feel better soon, you people keep me writing, you know? And yes. Jeb is a ************. (:**

"Hello, Max," he said calmly, like we were sat drinking tea and biscuits rather than with him pointing a revolver directly at my head. This guy has _issues. _Beside me, Iggy ground his teeth audibly, silent tears dripping from Nudge's pointed chin to the polished white floor.

"Goodbye, Jeb," I lunged at him, not caring if he shot or not, but in the split second before my fist reconciled itself with his (kinda ugly, but I guess I'm biased) face, his hand shot out and slapped me, sending me – _me! - _sprawling to the ground.

I gave him my let-me-help-you-die glare, and he looked straight back, all the old Jeb-like pathetic-ness completely disappeared. We stared at each other, neither of us willing to look away and let the other win, because, hey, I'm Max Ride. I'm tough. No one beats me. Ever.

In the middle of our little war, the door creaked open, just a little, and both our heads snapped straight towards it. I swear, if this is- Oh.

It's Gazzy. With Angel, and some gangly blonde-haired girl that I guess must be Sara. Huh. She's pretty. Nice. Likeable. A good friend for Fang the time he's been here. Probably been cuddling up to one another, holding hands through the bars of their crates... I wonder if they'll let me be a bridesmaid at the wedding. Not that I'm jealous, or anything. Maximum Ride doesn't get jealous. Max, on the other hand...

Gazzy took the scene in, his eyes darting round the room: Jeb, pointing a gun at him in movie fashion (both hands on the gun, arms outstretched towards him); me, sprawled on the floor; Nudge, still crying and Iggy, stood still as a rock and as emotionless as one. He met my eyes again, then grinned.

"Oh no you _didn't_," he said in true Hollywood fashion, both hands on his hips. Okay. I'll admit it. That kid can seriously come out with some _awesome _one-liners.

Mine and Angel's eyes met, both of us trying to hold in giggles. Iggy's face was contorted with the effort of not laughing, and he couldn't even see Gazzy's stance. Even Nudge looked close to burst out laughing. Then I glanced at Sara, and when I saw her shoulders were shaking with the effort to keep her mouth closed, I was a goner.

And when I started to laugh, the flock just couldn't keep the giggles in any more.

We were in the middle of the School, with our lives in danger, most likely hundreds of security back-up guards making towards us, and we were laughing our heads off.

Gazzy grinned from ear-to-ear, proud of his little outburst. Sometimes I seriously love that guy. Sometimes.

When I managed to control myself, I turned back to Jeb. And guess what?

He'd laid the gun on his desk, and was smiling, just a little. Not a real smile, but something was playing at the corners of his lips nonetheless (and not acne, before you start).

God, can you say personality disorder? Well, yeah, you can, but that's not what I meant.

"Hello, Gazzy," his eyes fixed on a suddenly frozen Gasman, "I've missed you." OMFG. He puts a gun to his head and expects him to believe it's a welcome back party? Yeah, uh, no. I was just waiting for the right to jump him and knee him where the sun don't shine, but then he turned to me. Gazzy was glaring at the floor, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "Max... I don't want to kill you. You know that, don't you?"

"Well, when you're pointing a gun at my head it's not hard to be misled," I fired back at him. Because if he thinks he can get away as easily as this, he's got another freaking think coming (and yes, that is the right phrase, thank you very much.) I flicked another glance at the flock and Sara, and saw that all of them were smiling, confident in me. Hate to say it, guy, but even I can be owned by a gun.

"Precautions, Max," he smiled, like he could fool me. Idiot. "You really think I could let you kill me?" I rolled my eyes.

"Well, I _was _hoping," I admitted sarcastically. He laughed, a dark sound devoid of any humour. God.

"That would've been just too easy, Max," he looked at me, amusement sparking in his eyes. "I have no desire, however, to hurt one of my fa- one of the flock."

Wait wait wait. Hold up. Pause. Stop. Whatever floats your boat. Was he just about to say one of his _family?_ Pshh. As _if. _

_Max! Be careful. He's telling the truth, he doesn't want to kill you, but he will if he has to..._

Hmm. What's his plan then, Ange?

_I don't know! It's like he's only allowing me to access some of his thoughts!_

That makes sense... he's playing us, Angel. He's had the shot to protect himself from our amazingness, and he's banking on you telling me he's not going to hurt me.

_THAT BAST-_

ANGEL! Where did you hear that freaking language?

_Um... Fang was trying to do DIY, remember? Before Total's wedding?_

Yeah, and?

_He hammered his thumb and started shouting something about motherfu-_

Don't say those words. Ever. I'm going to _kill _Fang. Like, seriously.

"I'm not your family, Jeb," I finally remembered to answer, my voice cold as ice, "I never have been, and I never will be." There was a flicker of hurt shadowing his eyes before he hid it. I'd hit him where it huts. Mentally, of course, I still hadn't had a chance to knee him. Yet.

"As you wish, Max," he replied, flat and emotionless. But by then, I couldn't care less; I'd already seen through him. "Do you want my help, or not?"

I was about to reply 'Uh, obviously not, do you really think I would've tried to rip your head off if I was just about to beg you for knowledge? Nope.' when I realised that he was our only option to get to Fang. And Dylan, I guess.

"Fine, whatever." I folded my arms obstinately. I didn't have to be gracious about it. It was bad enough that we needed his help.

"That door-" he pointed to the door on the left hand side of the room- "leads to Fang. He's probably unconscious right now, due to the minus sixty temperature. And that door-" he gestured to the door on the right- "leads to Dylan, who was knocked out a while back." He studied my face as I struggled to keep it emotionless, and failing epically.

Out in the corridor, we heard footsteps, and Angel opened her mouth to scream, but Jeb threw himself towards her, covering her mouth with his hand. At the exact same time, I hurled myself over the table, picking up the gun on the way, and jumped on top of his, straddling his back, the gun poised in my hand.

I so wish I had that on video. That was so the coolest thing I've ever done.

"Max, I was just keeping Angel from screaming," Jeb explained, not ruffled in the slightest, and totally ruining my awesome effect, "Dr. Gunther-Hagen is in the office behind."

"And he didn't hear a gunshot," I couldn't help remarking.

"Soundproofed," he said, then glanced at Angel, who, I have no reserve in telling you, can break glass. No joke. "Well... for the most part." Owned by a seven year-old. Hehe.

"So... we can just walk in and, like, get them both?" Nudge asked, looking confused. Jeb smiled at her.

"Of course not," damn. I jumped up off him, keeping a tight hand on the gun (it makes me feel like Lara Croft, okay? Don't take that away from me) and he scrambled to his feet, brushing his pure white coat. "Each door triggers a bomb, which detonates around twenty seconds after it's opened."

"So turn it off."

"Sorry, only Dr. Gunther-Hagen knows how to do it, since, technically, we're not allowed in either room." He didn't sound apologetic in the slightest.

"So... we only have time to save one of them?" Iggy confirmed.

"Well, if you put it like that..." Jeb didn't need to say yes.

There wasn't even a competition between who I was going to choose.

_Fang._

No shit Sherlock.

_But... Max... Nudge..._

Huh? I looked over at Nudge to see she was raring up her Bambi eyes. WTH?

_I... I can't really tell you..._

Spare the secrets. We don't have secrets in this flock.

_Why can't you ask her?_

...Do I really need to answer that?

_Okay, okay. Fine! Um... _

We don't have all day, Ange. It can't be that bad.

_Nudge likes Dylan but she kind of likes Iggy too! But she think she might be in love with Dylan, like you are with Fang, so she doesn't want to leave him 'cos she feels like it'll break her heart!_

"Aww..."

Oh crap. I said that out loud, didn't I? Damn damn damnity damn damn.

"What a shame we won't have a chance to kill you..." Nice save there, self.

_D'you want me to connect yours and Nudge's thoughts?_

Uh... okay?

_Okay!_

There was a strange fizzing sound in my head, like a circuit joining together...

Huh? Angel, what was that?

_Just putting you and Max together!_

**Not literally, I hope.**

_Iggy?_

**No freaking duh.**

...That's my line.

**Sorry. **

No, you're not.

**...Maybe, maybe not. **

_Ig, I'm disconnecting you because you're annoying us all!_

Finally! It's like an MSN conversation with Ella and her friends! 

**Angel, don't you dare-**

There was another fizzing sound, and Iggy was glaring at the floor again, obviously pissed off at being outed of our girls' conversation.

_Nudge, I'm really sorry, but I told Max about the triangle club!_

Angel! And I've told you a million times, we are _not _the triangle club!

WTH are you guys on about?

_Nudge, Iggy and Dylan are in a love triangle! The triangle club! Geddit?_

Unfortunately. Nudge, sweetie, what do _you _want to do?

gnowtnI... I want to save Dylan... but we need Fang, not Dyl. Fang's... Fang's, like, one of us! And you're not Max without him, and if you're not Max, then we're not the flock! We need you, and you need Fang. And we love Fang way too much to leave him here! Right? And if you get all depressed again then we'll cry again, and... let's just save Fang!

Awww. A whole paragraph with punctuation from the million-words-a-minute-motor-mouth.

_AWWWW! (L)_

Angel, anyone would think you're a romance novel addict. Nudge... are you sure? I don't want you to be upset...

I don't want her to be upset, but my heart's turning cartwheels in my chest at the thought of seeing Fang again.

_I SO HEARD THAT MAX! Awwwwwwww..._

Again with the romance novel thing Ange!

_Whatever. You're the one who read the Princess Diaries. _

I did NOT-

OHMIGOD, MAX READ THE PRINCESS DIARIES?

_YEAH! She even practically admitted it!_

I'm still-

I can't believe it! So many years trying to get through to her...

_And then she doesn't even tell us!_

GUYS! Shut up for three seconds? Okay, A? I did _not _read them-

_So did._

-and B, aren't there more important things we could be discussing right now, other than the fact that I haven't read your beloved Princess Mia stories?

YOU KNOW HER NAME!

...Nudge.

Sorry. We need to do what's best for the flock! Really, let's just get Fang, and then get the hell outta here!

Stealing my lines again, I see. Kidding, sweetie. Let's do this, guys.

I looked over at the girls, and they nodded. Then, I glanced at the boys; Gazzy nodded like he'd known our decision all along. Reaching over, I tapped Ig's fingers as discreetly as I could, and he nodded grimly.

Time to kick some Jeb butt.

"So we've come to a decision," I stated, enjoying the astounded look on Jeb's face greatly. "And we're going to let you live." Oh, his face. Obviously this wasn't the decision he thought we'd been making. "With consequences." As quickly as I could (which is pretty damn quick), I reached over and smacked him straight over the head with the edge of the gun. His knees buckled beneath him, and he fell to the floor without a sound.

"Quick, guys. We haven't got long until Dr Gummy Bear wakes up." I ushered them towards the left-hand door.

Are you sure, Nudge?

Just do it. Please. I just need to get out of here. 

Her broken voice was almost enough to make me turn right round, but my heart was contradicting every thought, with every beat it was sending seriously unwanted thoughts to my head. Or should I say _a_ seriously unwanted thought?

.

And so on.

So I opened the door.

And there, lying with his wings taped roughly behind his back, his black hair literally a forest growing on his head, was the love of my life.

Fang.

Ignoring the icy blast that gushed out towards me, its cold fingers licking at my bare skin, I walked slowly towards him; he was unconscious, his eyes closed and head lolling to the side. He wasn't drooling though (I'd wanted a bribe picture of that, as well. Can't win 'em all. And I didn't get that from Pokemon).

"Max," Sara touched my shoulder. "Twenty seconds."

I looked up to see that the rest of the flock had already flown out of the opened window, obviously to taunt Fang while he was still awake, knowing that he couldn't simply flap his wings and escape.

Turning him over, I saw his arms and legs were bound with crude rope, and I almost cried out at the dry bloodstains from where they'd cut into his skin. Right now, I wanted to smash the face in of every scientist who _dared _touch _my _Fang. I tore at the bindings, freeing him; his arms fell limply to his side. This was the weakest I'd ever really seen Fang, discounting that horrible time we had to take him to the hospital.

"Fifteen seconds," Sara helped me pull him to his feet, and started to fly cautiously backwards, holding Fang's feet. I took his upper body in my arms carefully, feeling the urgency in the air. As we flew out of the window to safety, I took one last glance behind me, at the open door.

Jeb was still lying there, hopeless. All of them were about to die in the explosion.

Could I really do this? It would make me no better than Jeb himself, or any other murderer in the world...

"Max!" Sara yelled, "come on! Seriously!" _You want to die? _Now Sara was stealing my lines. WTH? Dude. This wasn't fair.

Sara swore loudly, then flew higher and faster, forcing me up to since I refused to let go of Fang at all. Bitch. I followed, my eyes fixed on Fang's face again. We reached the flock as the School went up in flames, all of it seeming to ignite in the same split-second. Tongues of red, yellow and orange entwined, licking at the sky, the building, everyone inside it with a ferocious vengeance.

I watched, spell-bound, for a moment before turning to the flock. All of them were watching it, Gazzy, Angel, Iggy and... wait. What? Where the hell's Nudge?

No... it's impossible... Nudge wouldn't have... I turned round, hoping like hell she'd be there.

But she wasn't. There was no where she could've gone, no scent, no other options. Except... our great escape had gone horribly, terribly wrong.

Nudge was dead.

**A/N: Ahhh another cliffy! -.- Hope you liked that, though, longer one and I had to think about for a while [and rant at my friend about how I couldn't write any more. Kudos, loveroffang for putting up with me (;].**

**Review? (:**


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